I'm a tad late in writing this post. I just can't seem to find the proper words to describe this race to me. And maybe it's also a combination of having two deaths in our family recently. I just seem to be at a loss and my emotions are all over the place. Let me first say this is the 5th year in a row that I've ran for St. Jude. From the very first time I was just blown away. This race is so much more than running. It's for a great cause.
After watching my stepson recently pass away from an accident, this race even touches me more and I didn't think that was possible. I truly can't imagine a parent dealing with a child that has cancer for months on end. Going week after week for treatments that cause their children to be so sick. It's heart wrenching. It changes you forever to lose a child. So as long as God is willing, I will be a ST. JUDE HERO and raise money so that maybe one day St. Jude can put an end to childhood cancer so that ALL kids may live out their life as a normal child.
As we are coming to the close of 2017 and many of you are setting new goals for 2018, I encourage you to think about becoming a hero for St. Jude Children's Hospital. There are many races you can pick from to run as a hero. I've done Nashville and Memphis. I LOVE Memphis because it is the home of St. Jude Children's Hospital. This year there were over 26,000 runners that ran on 12-2-17. It was amazing. And we'd love to have you join Team Run4TheKids when you sign up as a hero.
For the first time in 5 years, I did the half marathon instead of the full marathon. With so many personal issues over the last 6 months I just didn't have the time to train for a full. I was bummed about it at first, but then I remembered that this race is NOT about ME. It's about the kids. So no matter if you ran the 5K, 10K, half marathon or the full marathon as a hero... you were a HERO!
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend. Every year I take my mom and daughter and we have a girls weekend at the Peabody. They do the 5K together. I'm so BLESSED with a wonderful family and great running friends.
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| Going into the hospital...check out the crowd! |
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| My daughter.. love her! |
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| My mom and daughter after they finished the 5K. |
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| Her name is Erin so of course she got a picture with the big E |
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| Elizabeth finishing her first half marathon with Sunshine's help. |
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| Erin, Me and Mom took a carriage ride back to the Peabody... so cool. |
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| In front of the giant Christmas tree at the Peabody. |
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| My crazy mom. |
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| This is what it's all about!!!! Every time I run through the campus of St. Jude Hospital I have tears flowing. |
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| Sunshine.. :<>) |
Our team raised over $30,000 this year! So let me just recap the last 5 years for you on Team R4TK:
2013 - (just me) $5,000
2014 - (team formed) $23,000
2015 - $43,000
2016 - $50,000
2017 - $30,000
Do you realize that is $151,000! WOW! I'm so amazed by my team members! They are incredible people who give up so much of their personal time and money to be St. Jude HEROES. GOD BLESS THEM ALL!
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| THIS WAS THE TOTAL RAISED BY ALL HEROES! |
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| MY MEDAL |
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| My time.... not too bad considering my training has been mostly walking for several months... ha and I took videos along the way. Here's the link to the video I made: St. Jude Memphis weekend 2017 Team R4TK Looking forward to 2018 with Team R4TK. Stay tuned for fundraisers we'll be having during the year to help us reach our hero goals. :<>)  Much love, D |
PS... post coming soon on Gulf Coast half marathon... Last one for 2017.
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