RACE FOR THE CURE 2010

The girls and I braved the crowd of 50,000+ to participate in the Race for the Cure in downtown Columbus this morning. This is the third largest race in the country. There were those who were competitive racing, those who were just racing for fun, walkers (like us), and a family-friendly one mile walk. Fun for all!
This was our first time participating, and although we have tired, sore piggies, I doubt that it will be our last. We had Chipotle on the way home and are all relaxing now with our feet up! We got up before 5 a.m. in order to make it downtown before they started closing off streets - I see a little nap in my future! It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Ohio though, so there aren't any complaints!

We all walked in memory of my mom's sister and our very favorite aunt, Aunt Loey (pronounced Louie), who was lost to cancer seven years ago. She first battled breast cancer 17 years before and lived cancer-free for all of those years. When her cancer came back it did so with a vengeance in her lungs and bones and she was gone in six months. We still miss her desperately and couldn't participate in the walk without it being for her. I shed a few tears along the way thinking about her and how pleased she would be that we were walking in her memory, but I'm a big ol' marshmallow.

I heard an announcement that one woman raised, on her own w/out corporate sponsorship, over $14,000.00. That makes my $290. seem rather paltry, but I'm still pleased with it, and thank my special friends and family who made that possible. A lot of the bigger sponsors were giving out freebies - knapsacks, pens, can cozies, snacks, clips, etc. and I was surprised at the number of people who were pushing and shoving to get their free stuff. Sheer greed. We left that area right away and didn't go back - and no, we didn't take a thing! There were different groups playing music to entertain the walkers along the entire 5K route, and motorcyclists lined both sides of High Street for the last mile or so, cheering and high-fiving walkers and some revving their engines. Sounds a little cheesy, I know, but spirits were so high and there was an incredible sense of unity among everyone in the downtown. Still, we were pleased to see the finish line!

I hope you're all having a great weekend!

Laurie