10 Minutes, 8 Seconds

(note: cross-posted to Weighty Matters)

Today was the Race for the Cure ...... and I reached my goal!!!! I shaved 10:08 off last year's time of 1:06:34 by coming in this year at 56:26. I jogged in a few places to hit my goal, but it was worth it! I would have honestly been happy at anything around 57 or so. But seeing the actual number was fantastic. I went from a pace time of 21:24 (last year) to 18:10 this year. Holy Moses!

And this year, speaking of numbers, we had an approximate 25% increase in the number of participants..... amazing enough, but even more so in light of the very shaky economy. It's unbelievable and humbling.

Last year, I was very inspired by all the survivors. Seeing them do the walk -- especially those newly diagnosed or battling the disease -- was enough to bring me to tears. This year, there was a young lady who was walking it on a prosthetic leg. As she came down her side of the course (as several of us were walking up to the turnaround), all you could hear was "Oh my God, how awesome is that girl!" I found her after the race and told her so -- that she inspired me to keep moving, and that she amazed me. She was so gracious about it and almost seemed as if she couldn't believe all the people who told her how proud they were of her (I am betting her time was probably between 45 and 50 minutes). She was a hero to me today, as were all those who took part in the survivor ceremony.

My cousin was one of the competitive runners.... he fell a little short of his hoped-for time, but not by all that much. Instead of 24:00, he ran a 26:08 .... good enough to be in the top 225 (out of close to 900 runners!). TOP QUARTER!!!! I'm so proud of Brandon I could burst!

And I already can't wait for next year!