I Wobbled 2011!

This year I was lucky enough to work with my 3 incredibly talented and diligent friends to organize our 2nd annual Gobble Wobble and Pumpkin Pie Plod. Despite this year being slightly crazy for them (broken ankle, moving into a new house, MBA program, back to work full time) they were still up for the challenge and I am SO GLAD! This year was bigger and better than the last and I could never pull this off without them. See! We even had a LINE! I think we had close to 120 runners. Wendi, Chris and Meredith have so many great ideas and made it so much better than I ever imagined in my head. Like our fantastic START banner and canopy for registration. Don't we look so official?I was really excited that I got to run this year since I injured myself last year. I tend to be slightly competitive, but I know some really fast people so I was trying to be realistic with my goal. I knew there were probably 3 or 4 guys that I couldn't beat, so I set my sights on finishing the first of the girls and within the top 5 (there were only 14 people who ran the 6.4 mile loop, so this was not a lofty goal).Apparently the start was brutal for some. Consider exhibit A: My husband ELBOWING one of our best friends?? Dustin and I started back a little far in the pack while I insisted Dustin not run ahead of me and that he share half of his ABC gum because I had forgotten mine in all the morning chaos and my mouth was dry. And we ran.

Meanwhile they started the 3 mile run.And the 1 mile fun run, which all of my kids ran.No pictures of Ellie and Caroline, but I'm sure they had fun. Nate ran with his best friend Daven. That morning when I asked him if he was excited he said, "No! We should have trained!" He still did great. Look at those adorable pink cheeks! My lifelong BFF, Molly, ran with Sadie who took a sprint/run approach. I guess the whole time she kept saying, "If we just pass those people we'll win!" Well they did! And then Sadie yelled, "WE WON!"
Two of my extra amazing girlfriends, Tia and Julie, do not enjoy running, but they were so sweet to offer up their services and run some kids' games.When Luke got bored of ruining the parachute for everyone, he decided that maybe he should run the Fun Run too. I am grateful Mike saved him from the canal.

Back to our race. . . I think when things thinned out, Dustin and I were 8th and 9th. 2 miles in we passed our first two runners. VICTORY! Oh wait, they were 9 & 11. But they were seriously FAST! I can't believe they ran the whole thing. About 3 miles in, one of the Young Men got a cramp, so we passed him and then I noticed runner number 4 was slowing down. My competitiveness took over and I had to sacrifice running with my husband to pass him. I was convinced he was behind me the entire time, but Dustin passed him too. I came in #4 (first girl!) at 50:11 and Dustin was right behind me (#5 at 53:03). I am so proud of him!!

I am also grateful to everyone who helped out! My heart always over flows with gratitude when I think of this race. All the people who helped plan, brought snacks for the food table, entertained my kids so Dustin and I could run together, came out with their families, took pictures, donated food and clothes to the Food Bank we sponsored this year. . . I am so lucky to know the BEST people.

And of course a HUGE shout out to my husband who always gets suckered into my grand plans. He booked the park, helped make pies for prizes, colored in my route marker signs, left at 5:30 am to put them all up, dealt with the world's worst locks and everything else I throw at him. I am so lucky to have him and I know I don't deserve him!!

And of course I can't wait for next year. I think we're baptizing Nate that weekend too. Should be crazy!