Race for Hope 2009 -- Philadelphia Part TWO!

Yesterday I started telling you about the Race for Hope in Philadelphia that my family and friends participated in on Sunday. Today, we pick up where we left off...

After having our group photo taken, we headed over to the "Wall of Hope," here, people could post memorials to loved ones who lost their battles to brain cancer OR they could post tributes to survivors who did beat this vicious disease. It's especially difficult to see the pictures of children, as hard as it is to have lost my mom, I think the photos of children are even more hard to look at. The grandchildren posed for a quick picture in front of the wall.

Here's a closer detail of the picture that The Sister made and sent in.


We stood around and chatted by the Wall of Hope for a bit when all of a sudden, we heard them play the theme from the movie "Rocky." My cousin and I looked at each other and at our friend Cherie and decided we had to do it... we ran up the stairs as the Rocky theme played. It's a must do when in the City of Brotherly Love and believe it or not, I had never done it! It's not every day that you get to do it while accompanied by the actual theme song. Mommy would have laughed...

We did it! Not that difficult but I can see how Rocky would have gotten a good work out by doing it over and over and over... Notice The Son in front of me, he had no idea why he was doing this but enjoyed it nonetheless.

The Baby Niece was not impressed...

After the race, we headed out to a local restaurant for brunch. Here's the Technological Twosome on their Daddy's iphones. Honestly, I'm not sure if this is good or bad... either way, it's pretty funny.
Me and The Sister and The Baby Niece, again she's not exactly impressed.


Lastly, I promised you our times and I'm sure you're all waiting with baited breath. I had the best race I've ever had and everyone else did a really awesome job! I'm so impressed with all of their times.

The BIL 22:56
Friend M 25:03
Cherie 26:44
Friend C 26:59
Chrissy 'Cuz 27:52
The Sister 29:53

ME - CityMomma/CountryMomma 31:15! I knew I'd be the slowest on our team but I finished right in the middle of 800 runners so I feel pretty good about that. My average on the treadmill is around 33 minutes and my last timed race was 35:30 so I'm thrilled with my time! THRILLED! I'm seriously considering training for the Broad Street Run which is a ten-miler held in May... what do you think?

So that's our final race report. It's not too late to donate to this fantastic cause so if you'd like to do that, or, if you'd just like to see a nicer picture of our beloved Mommy, click here.

Have a great day everyone!

Race for Hope 2009 -- Philadelphia!

Hello All!

Yesterday I mentioned that I had a special event this past weekend. Well, it was a 5K race in honor of my beloved Mommy. If you're a reader of this blog, you know that my mother passed away nearly two years ago (rather suddenly) from a brain tumor. She is very, very missed. It's still difficult without her and I know the others in my family, namely my sister and my Dad, feel exactly the same way.

Last year, we planned to do the race but I badly sprained my ankle the day before and The Sister was pregnant so she just walked it. I was not in shape at all to run it anyway. We vowed that this year, we would give it our all and give it our all we did!

It started off not looking like a very nice day. I was worried about running in the rain. I am particular about my running conditions and didn't think I would fare very well on a cold and rainy day. It was also very early for me and I am not a morning gal. Thank Goodness we turned the clocks back the night before. That "extra" hour was appreciated. (Thank you Ben Franklin)

The Son was excited. He's in the back seat next to my cousin Chrissy and her friend Cherie who drove down from Connecticut to participate in the race with us. They DID manage to do the race last year so it was nice to have them here again this year.

Yeah... it's grey and dreary...

Almost there...


We had planned to meet the rest of our team at the port-a-potties. Not the most glamorous meeting place I'll admit but it was convenient since you couldn't really not find them. It was busy over 800 runners and thousands of walkers. That's the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the background, remember "Rocky" running up the steps... well, that's coming up later...


The BIL finishing...

Me finishing... not a very flattering picture...

Team Joycie's Kids... the team raised over $500 for the cause of brain cancer research. I must give The Sister and all her friends credit for that, she managed to send out the team link to her whole e-mail list and had quite a few generous people who donated in honor of our mom. Thanks everyone!
Tomorrow, I'll show you a few more pictures and tell you our final times... this post is getting a little long... see you then! Enjoy your Tuesday!