Neither rain, nor wind, nor dehydration (Kaiser SF and updated raffle results)

Neither rain, nor wind, nor dehydration (Kaiser SF and updated raffle results)

(Originally posted on MySpace on 2/6/2008)

There's a government definition that says if you can walk a mile in 20 minutes you qualify as 'being fit'.

I wonder what they say if you keep that up for 13.1 miles.

Last weekend, our Team in Training chapter did a local event - Kaiser San Francisco.  They had a 5K and a Half Marathon.  Since this was a smaller race, we didn't have the usual festivites and expo (so you don't get the gross feet pictures. Ha!).   It's still special.  We had 50 participants, maybe 45 of them doing an endurance event for the first time.

I wasn't able to get pictures of the pasta party on Friday because of the low lighting, but Thomas, our honored patient, talked about his first time speaking to a group about his Lymphoma.  It was in front of his class mates in high school.  He was a natural born speaker and was doing great until he had to say the words "I have cancer."  Words failed him then, but 16 years later - cancer free - he said it with a sense of awe.  His closing wish was that we fight.  We keep moving.

Sunday morning race forecast as rain, wind and mid 40's.  For those of you who know San Francisco, the Great Highway was the perfect wind tunnel.  Getting up a 5 AM on Super Bowl Sunday to face those kinds of conditions took a little extra, but knowing what we needed to do, it didn't take long.

I didn't realize how big this local race was - 9,000 runners and walkers and a few baby strollers.  Not many running Elvi this time for some reason.  The line of buses at the Great Highway shuttle point:


We caught some good weather between 6 and the 8 AM start time, but during Coach Al's shout outs, the sky just opened up.  The rain lasted for about 20 minutes, so we were soaked for the start.  Good thing we had the trash bags.


Coach Lisa wasn't there Sunday. She was about 90 miles into a 100 mile run in Texas at the time of the race start.

Yeah.  Seriously.

I found out a few years ago that supporting a race is nearly as much fun as racing it myself.  You get to cheer on TNTer's and non-TNTer's alike.  I ended up getting a lot of questions on aches and pains because I was wearing my Coach jersey.  I need to keep that in mind if I need a favor at a bigger race.

SF Bay Area TNTer's at mile 4:


The course goes through some of the nicest sections of Golden Gate Park.  I really liked the way these signs were placed - like some sutble message at mile 5 .


The lady on the right is Coach Carolyn, one of the long-time walk coaches.  I took a picture from behind because she's way faster than me. Her best marathon is 4:48... walking.  Sheezus...


As soon as we got to the Great Highway at Mile 7, the rain started again, this time coupled with some pretty serious wind.  The walk OUT from 7 to 10 was with the wind, so I wasn't looking forward to going into it on the way back.  Almost makes me wish I were a runner and could get the race over with early.   Almost...


I was walking with one of our Mentors on this stretch and she told me her husband passed away from multiple myeloma this past October, right around the time we were doing the Nike Marathon. She said she couldn't have made it this far without the support of TNT and they were just hoping for a sign that her husband was watching over her.  Just like that, the rain stopped.  We saw this down the road at Lake Merced.


On the way back from mile 10, the rain let up again and I was cheering everyone on with the chant of "left, right, repeat!"  It was about 3 hours into the race that I took this picture.  The finish line was at the end of the rainbow - at least that's what I had everyone believing 


One of the hardest parts about being a walker is the knowledge that most of the people will have finished, maybe even left, by the time you cross the finish line.  One thing I've always loved about Team in Training is that you'll never finish alone if you just keep on moving.  This is Lisa (right), a first time Half-Marathoner and our group's top fundraiser, walking in with her mentor, Tim up the last mile.


Right behind Lisa was her partner and son, trying to catch her.  I thought this was just adorable that she was screaming and cheering the entire way up.


Most of the race officials had left and they were even taking down the banner across the finish line when we got there.  Undaunted, our other mentor, Deanna, made sure Lisa crossed the finish in style.  At this point, most of us are exhausted, drained and crying our eyes out.


We had 6 walkers between Bayside and Diablo Valley.  Every one of them finished. And contrary to what you might hear, these medals are the same ones they give the people who finish first.




I ran into a lot of old friends from past seasons.  Like most TNTer's, they're planning to come back, that's just the effect this organization has on us.

I walked with a woman who hadn't run since 8th grade.  She said she took zeroes in PE classes because all the boys made fun of her boobs bouncing around.  She finished a half-marathon and raised over $2500.  I dare them to laugh at her now. 

Susan and I ended up walking over 30 miles between the two of us. We were cold, wet, and proud of our participants.  It's days like this I wonder why I waited so long to get involved.

The numbers:
50 participants: runners and walkers, from the San Francisco/Marin, Bayside and Diablo Valley regions.
$112,000 raised for the fight against blood related cancers
50 medals.
50 aching bodies ready for more.

And since this is all about charities, I'm pimping out the charity blogs one more time. Please be sure to drop by and check these out if you already haven't!

AE's friend Ted is doing The 5th Annual Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge in Lake Tahoe on February 9th.  I'd pay NOT to have to do that.

((Joe-Dye)) reposted the link to an organization that educates and fights world hunger inDo you know the Word? You can make a Difference !  An oldie, but goodie!

?Debs? is going after another 3-day Breast Cancer Walk in honor of Barb.  Read her touching story in More than what I bargained for....

Princess Loretta tells an amazing story in Flowers For Terry. Terry is a two time breast cancer survivor and three time ovarian cancer surivor.  There are multiple links in the blog to Gifts of Hope, Daffodil Days and the Boyds Bear Fundraiser. 

~Moon Goddess Chandra~ is blogged about a close family tie and chose The Crohn's and Colitis Foudnation in A Purpose Driven Challenge… So Very Dear To My Heart.

Brenda's Seeing Red is for her Heart Walk on March 15th for the American Heart Association.

Reaching out to her friends, my buddy Kerry posted Make a difference with cash and Daffodils!  She already has tickets for her donation 

Erin's Empowring Issues blog Getting to Zero promotes The Animal Rescue Site.  Those of you with companion animals will love this charity - EXCELLENT links to additional resources here!

I'm entering a ticket for Arris (Undercover Agent) for her Thyroid Awareness blog yesterday. While it's not technically a charity, her Awareness series is something everyone should read.

And the raffle results:
Thanks to everyone who donated to my fundraiser and posted blogs to raise awareness for their own charities. Note: People who donated more than $5 had multiple chances to win.

$50 prizes (5 winning tickets)
Brenda (Team in Training)
Arris (Undercover Agent). (she named Team in Training for her charity)
Mr. nEXt.  (Kim's MS Walk)
Twentieth Century Author. (2 wins for $100). 

$100 prizes (5 winning tickets):
Arris (Undercover Agent). (2). Yes, in addition to winning one of the $50 prizes, Arris won TWO of the $100 prizes for Team in Training!
Twentieth Century Author. This makes a total of $200 going to Lutheran World Relief.
~Running is my Dance~ (Team in Training and Daffodil Days)(a total of $350 for Team in Training).
Princess Loretta (Daffodil Days)

...and finally, for the $250 Grand Prize:
Princess Loretta (Daffodil Days). Given how hard she works raising money, I'm more than happy to write this check!  ($400 total for her charity)

Direct donations to my TNT event came to $425 with a few more coming in.  The $350 for Team in Training will actually go to AE and her friend Justine as soon as I get the address for their chapter.  They're just starting their season.

Thanks for making a difference!  Off to the next big project