Run From Hunger

Approaching the finish line.

This morning I was awakened by a terrible clap of thunder. I ran to the window, and my heart sank at the sight of pouring down rain. I knew that we had a bad weather system approaching, but I hoped that it would hold off until after the race. I got up anyway to prepare for my big run.

Our stake held its first annual Run From Hunger 5k. I have been training for about nine months. There have been many obstacles I have overcome, mainly the intensity of the hills on this trail, but I also did all of my training by accidentally taking a short cut that equaled a quarter of a mile that I was not running.

I set a goal to finish the race in 33 minutes.

I am very happy to report that I finished at 32 minutes 27 seconds.

There were many unplanned obstacles though. The trail was slippery with huge puddles of water. I almost slipped. I had children darting out at me. I stopped because I almost ran over a boy. My shoes were drenched. Running in soaking wet shoes is not an easy feat.

No pun intended.

Signing in with Kayleigh Bug.

The four runners representing the Simpson and Parrott families.

Nikki was busy photographing the event and was responsible for purchasing 400 bananas.

Brad stayed home with Cozette because of the rain. 

I must add that it was mighty disappointing not seeing him at the finish line.
Papa is in the background and came to support us all.

Starting the race in the rain was not so great.

Sadly, only about a third of the people registered participated today because of the weather.

Everett finished with a time of 27.05 wearing his awesome plaid shorts.

Way to go son!

I think Brad is already plotting to beat his time next year!

Kayleigh Bug posing with her friends and Ms. Betsy.

Kayleigh finished with a time of 31.55.

I told Kayleigh that she needs to pursue running in high school. 

Here is cute Mommom.

She finished with a time of 34 minutes.

We are very proud of her for winning first place in her age category.
Age 60 and over!

Posing with Ms. Betsy.

Trust me, I do not even attempt to keep up with her!

Our admission for today's race was 10 cans of food per person.

This is a portion of the cans of food collected.

The intent for our day of service was to help supply the local food banks in our area.