Race For The Cure

Yesterday Maelin and I went to the the Komen Race For The Cure. I wasn't sure if we were going to go or not because of her ear infection, but when we woke up on Sunday morning, the sky was clear and all we needed to do was bundle her up. We went with our really good friends Steve, Sherry and their 4 year old twins, Hannah and Jacob. Steve's mom passed away from breast cancer about 5 years ago, so they race in her honor and I wanted to go with them to support a great cause.

Kevin got up early and helped us get ready. We layered Maelin in long sleeved pants and shirt, then a long sleeved fleece thing then her boots and two hats and her coat. She looked like the stay-puft marshmallow man, but she was warm and happy! Our friends came to our house at 7:30am and we walked to the light rail station. Maelin was so good: it was a bit chilly out and she just sat in her stroller and watched Jacob and Hannah and took everything in. We got on the train and went downtown where it was so crowded! Just a sea of people in pink: we saw pink dogs, people with pink wigs, and all sorts of breast cancer survivors and their families celebrating. It was beautiful.

We had to walk about 1/2 mile just to get to the start line (we entered the 5k coed walk) and by the time we got there, Maelin had fallen asleep in the stroller. The start line was so powerful: there were all sorts of bands playing and people with signs and everyone was in a great mood. It was also a bit somber: I saw a man walking with a group of people and he had a sign on his back saying "In Remembrance" of his wife and he had two little girls with him who couldn't be more than 6 or 8. I couldn't even imagine what Maelin and I would do without Kevin, so it was sobering to see first-hand how many people just in our own city that breast cancer affects.

We got about 20 minutes into the race when I happened to peek into the stroller and poor Maelin was sobbing! I couldn't hear her because of all the noise! I quickly got her out and strapped her into the baby Bjorn carrier: and that's where she stayed for the rest of the race. She ate her bottle in there, spit up in there, sucked on binky in there and made her momma really work for it. If you've ever walked a few feet (from the car to the house, for example) carrying a bag of cat litter or something equaling 15 pounds, you know it's heavy and kind of awkward. Imagine walking 3+ miles with 15 pounds hanging off of your shoulders and you'll understand why I'm exhausted today.

She was so good! She didn't cry once and she had a great time watching all the people, the music and just being outside. She was a little trooper.

Turns out our race had over 67,000 people yesterday! If you've never done the race, it was fantastic. We had a great walk (honestly, by the time I felt I couldn't take another step, it was about over. 5k is a pretty good amount to walk to make you feel like you've worked but it doesn't kill you), we were with amazing people, we contributed to a fantastic cause and we really felt uplifted by the whole experience. We're definitely going to do it again next year and we'd love for any of you to join us!