Sunday, May 10, 2009

Race for the Cure 2009

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is a huge event, with more than 100 races worldwide this Mother's Day weekend. Violet's Uncle Mat's mom, Jamie, is a breast cancer survivor, and Violet and I were honored to participate yesterday as members of her team.

We met Aunt Kristin, Uncle Mat, Grandma and Grandpa and more of Jamie's friends and family at her house Saturday morning, where Jamie supplied us with plenty of fuel for the race: breakfast sandwiches hot off the griddle and even powdered donuts (my favorite!). The one mile walk from Jamie's to the starting line was a great warmup for most of us; I let Violet conserve her energy riding on my back. The race got underway not long after our arrival, and once the hard-core contenders were out of the way, we joined the crowd and took off!

We had all signed up for the 5k walk, and at the outset, it looked doable. I had my Connecta (buckle-tai type for the baby-carrier set) carrier with me, so Violet could ride on my back as soon as she got tired. But she didn't get tired. She ran, and ran, and ran. Just not always in the same direction. We lost Kristin and Mat and the rest of the group early on, but my mom (hard to get used to calling her Grandma!) and I accompanied Violet as she ran up one side of the street and down the other, over and over.

I doubt we covered more than half a mile, but we really covered that stretch. Violet finally wore herself out, and sprawled out in the street to rest.

We had a ton of fun, but even more than that, I was just moved to be a part of it all. The sheer number of people who come out to support the fight against breast cancer, and the enthusiasm of everyone there is a really powerful thing to experience. We're already looking forward to next year.

2 comments:

Mat and Kristin said...

That last picture is hilarious! I think that is what we were all doing by the end of the day!

Cheryl said...

I almost got down there with her!