St Jude's Done!

Up at 4am to get on the road by 5am. Arrived in Memphis a little after 6am. It was already 55 degrees and a bit windy. Humidity was at 85%. 16,000+ runners between the marathon, half and 5K. Made the mistake of trying to use the Elite's Porta-potty close to the start line. A race official came up and got on the whole group who was in line to use them. "Those are for the Elites!", she stated. I forgot, my bodily functions are beneath that of the Elites. LOL!! No biggie, big row of them just a couple blocks away.

Well, we got started just after 8am. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the runner traffic you face during the first couple of miles. This one took about five miles to really start thinning out. Seemed like everytime you would go to pass someone, they would drift over in front of you as to block you. Hey, we're not competing for the winner money, let it go. Ha Ha!! Just funny. Annoying at the time but, funny now. Did I mention the wind?? It steadily increased. And it always seemed to hit you as you would run uphill. Oh yeah, there were hills. LOTS of them. Most of them UP!! It certainly took a lot out of the runners. My Pit Crew (Deb and Amy) were there. Got to see them twice on the course. That was awesome!! Amy high fived me, and Deb gave me some sugar. :) Gotta love my girls!

Well, it wasn't my best race as there was no PR involved. But, it wasn't my worst race. It was right in the middle. The main thing is, it was for a great cause. If you have one race to run in your life, this is the one to experience. This race raises money for St Judes Hospital. The St Jude Heroes raised 3 million dollars this year. That amount of money keeps the hospital running for 2-days. So you can imagine they need all the help anyone can provide. And speaking of St Judes, the course takes you through the campus of the hospital. What an awesome, yet sad, experience. They help these poor kids suffering from various illnesses. Great bunch of people who were more than appreciative of the folks running this race. I will be back to run it again next year and help raise money for them. Great race!!