Running with Angels

This is Reed and I before the Running with Angels 5K. We ran in memory of our son Jacob. Isaac was nice enough to use the camera and take a picture for us. It was funny because this was the only one with us in focus and not the tree behind us in focus. Thanks Isaac, you did great! Aunt Maren came to be with the kids at the starting and finish lines. She brought snacks! Boy, she knows how to win over kids that were woke up very early in the morning. The race started at 8 a.m. and we had about an hour drive from home. We arrived around 7:15 a.m. so, we were up pretty early getting ready for the run.

Right before the race started they let white doves out to symbolize those who have gone on. The atmosphere of the race is something that is hard to describe. Everyone was there to remember and honor somebody in their life who has passed away. It was an honor to be apart of such an event.

The kids were so excited and waited anxiously for us to cross the finish line.

This is us crossing the finish line. It's hard to see us amidst all the people. There were over 900 participants. We came in 515th and 516th place. Finishing the race in 40 minutes 57:15/25. There was a chip that was zip tied to your shoe and it would count your time from the moment your shoe crossed the starting line and then crossed the finish line. We wanted to finish right together and we did but, apparently Reed's shoe crossed first. He was 10 one hundreth of a second ahead of me.

This is us with the kids after the race. They were SO excited to see us! Thanks for being our BEST supporters!

After the race there was chocolate milk, bagels and fruit. The kids loved that!

Isaac loved all the little treats Maren brought. She knows my Isaac well.

This is our family with my friend Brandi's family. Our babies had the same diagnosis and passed away about a month apart. Her boys did the race with them and Isaac asked if he could do it with us next year. I think that would awesome buddy!

This race ended up being different than what I expected. I was actually disappointed in myself and the way I did personally but, I learned something... I have never run a 5K before so I had nothing to compare it to except what I had done while training. I have been running every morning. I have a nerve in my left foot that has always given me problems since my college sport days. I haven't had problems with it for weeks. I also haven't gotten a side ache while I run but, I got one while running the race. I couldn't believe that it was happening THIS run. Why not any other day because this was important to me. I wanted this to be perfect but, it was not to be. I wanted to perform at least as well as I had while training. My goal has been to run a little farther everyday even if it was only a few steps from the day before. While running I did a lot of thinking. A small thought came to me while I was running this race...this is how my life has been lately.....with challenges that make it difficult to always keep going. As this thought came to me I realized that I was still running...still putting one foot in front of the other, still moving forward...and I knew that this was how my life was going to be. I could not predict the challenges in my life, nor could I prevent them but, I have to keep going. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. I am grateful for that small thought that put perspective on a difficult situation for me. All I can do is to keep moving forward even though at times it can be VERY hard.