It's a Chaneyworld (and it's a crazy world too)!: The Palmetto 5k (and kids' fun run!)

I don't even know where to begin when talking about the race in mid-April. I'll start by writing about my mom. She ran the race this year!!!!!!! When I began talking about signing up for this race back before Christmas, she hinted that she might want to run it with me this year. After reaching a milestone birthday at the beginning of January (she's so young!), she decided to definitely tackle the 5k. She diligently trained for the race, and then ran every step of the 3.1 miles on race day. And get this - she won 1st place in her age division (with a time of 36:36)!!!!!! Way to go Mom!!!

I achieved a personal goal by running the race again this year. Towards the end of the race last year, I remember thinking, "Wow, wouldn't it be neat if I run this race again next year, and can say that I kept up my running/exercising all year?!" So, I did run the race, and I did keep up my running/exercising all year (now, if I can just stop thinking that the extra exercise means I can eat extra ice cream). I did improve my time (33:19) by almost 1 minute and 20 seconds from last year. And I was excited to note that if my birthday were three weeks earlier, I would have received 2nd place in the next age group. There's something very satisfying about setting a goal, and achieving it!

Finally, I've got to write about SB. She got to participate in the kids' fun run. She was so excited about it, and we let her run around the neighborhood with me to train. She was by far one of the youngest kids out there. The morning of the race, clouds were blowing in and there had been forecasts of horrible weather, but we were thankful that with the exception of a few short downpours, the nasty weather held off. Nevertheless, one of the brief downpours occured the second the blew the horn for the kids' fun run. All the kids took off running, except for SB. She took about 3 steps, but the rain stung her face so badly, she couldn't keep going. She and I ducked under an awning and waited for the rain to slack off. As soon as it let up, we went back out and finished her race. She was so proud to get a medal!

The girls loved cheering us on, holding up their sign they made, but I think their favorite part was ringing the cowbells PawPaw got for them. It was such a fun family event!

Here's a day-before-the-race picture, reading books with PawPaw:

Here's me waving to the fam, but then I realized the girl in orange was about to pass me, so I got down to business and finished the race (it's amazing how the competitive spirit comes out with the crowd cheering you on)