My mom drove me to my first post-birth 5K, while my hero Darren stayed home with 5 children ages 7 and under! This is the first time I have felt compelled to donate to the cause for which I was running. Operation Smile is to help raise money for the families of children with cleft lip/cleft pallet who may not otherwise be able to pay for their children to have helpful surgery and cosmetic dentistry. My dad, a fabulous orthodontist, who died in 1999, did some volunteer work for Operation Smile and really felt the goodness of it. I am glad to have donated.
This 5K, the goal was to finish! I am glad that was the goal, because the day before the race, it snowed on the trail we were to run. So, upon arrival, we were all informed that we needed to sign wavers and agree to walk, single-file, along .5 mile of the trail, where it became rather treacherous. Several runners in the slower runner group, with me, decided to just scale the hillside, because by the time we got to the treacherous trail, it was basically an ice-chute. We deemed it safer to scale the snowey weeds.
I think I actually ran the race pretty well. I wish I had borrowed Jackie's I-Phone, though, because a mere 1/2 mile before the end, maybe less, as a recovering mother of Baby #5, I felt the need to use the bushes. Had I known how little trail remained, I could have held out for the Honey Bucket! Still, I finished in 40-ish minutes, even with the 1/2 mile walk and the pit-stop. I think I'll do Operation Smile again. The music was great, the memories are already many and I got some free headphones! Plus, we heard great stories about miracles made possible by the organization.
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