Run for Pierogies 5k

Run for pierogies! Is there a better reason to run? Yes, running for pierogi medals!

Last Saturday was the R for P 5k and I was soooo excited for it because not only was my mom and brother racing, but it was my sister in-law's first. race. ever! It was a family affair and I couldn't wait!

You know you want one

The morning started with my mom discovering shot bloks......My mom can't even handle pepsi. She had four, FOUR, FOUR shot bloks (does she not have taste buds?!). Needless to say, the normal slap happiness that follow us to every race, started before we even got a mile from the house.

She was in rare form

We got to the race, which was on the community college campus, grabbed our gear and waited for the race to start. Moondog, the Cleveland Cavs' mascot, gave us a pre-race pep talk before the start.

Moondog says, "Do it for the pierogies!"

This wasn't a chip-timed race (grrr), so I was sure to set myself up at the very front of the pack. And then I was reminded why I hate 5ks (other than its a 3 mile sprint)...high school kids. The track and x-country stars were all lined up next to me, comparing notes of which races they've already won this year. Well, yeah. I could win 5ks every other weekend too if I had a coach and didn't have anything to do but go to school and train. Bah.

I'm the glowing-blond head to the right of the orange tanktop guy

The first mile went by in 6:30, and I passed my family as I headed off to the rest of the course. There was a lot of looping around and criss-crossing to the course, and of course, running thru the finish line (this is becoming a nasty little trend).

  

I passed by my family one more time and then headed toward the finish, I was flying and felt great!

3/4 of a mile to go!

After crossing the finish at 20:58, I turned around and headed back to find my mom. She'd been really worrying about how her Achille's would hold up for the race, so I wanted to help her cross the line. Plus the ham in me couldn't help but think what an awesome picture my mom and I crossing the line together would be....

I was right!

I was so proud of all of my family for how well they did! My brother hadn't run a race since 2005, my mom's Achille's was killing her, and my sister in-law came in 2 minutes under her goal!

And best yet, Mom AND daughter got the coolest medals ever......

1st & 2nd in our divisions!

Now you know where I get my speed :-)