Race Day!

Last night I did not sleep well. I was nervous. Nervous about running in a race... nervous about being the last person to cross the finish line... nervous about not being able to run the entire race... nervous I would sleep through my alarm clock. Well, I didn't sleep through, but with the 24000 people there to participate I did have some difficulty getting the race. With all the hoards and crowds of people I struggled to get through to start with the runners. Eventually I left Nick and the freezing cold babies to fend for themselves while I snaked through the crowd. At a certain point I had a man tell me that there was no way I would be able to run and I should just give up trying to get through the crowd. He sparks the fury of Chrissy. NO ONE tells me I can't do something... especially something I've been training for and working towards for the last month! Spunky Chrissy worked her way through the crowds and lets just say it's good I'm short and moderately little. :-)

After finishing the race and finding my family...

Eventually I got to the starting line and joined the masses of people, running with my Ipod blasting in my ears. It was a little frustrating to run into lines of people blocking the street all walking, but I got around and tried not to get too wriggled up. Every once and a while I'd come to a song on the Ipod that would be too slow and I'd shout "Nope! Too Slow! Speed it up!" Every once and a while I'd have to do a little dance while running and yell to myself to keep moving (especially when I was doing that last 8/10 of a mile uphill). The people around me probably thought I was crazy, but it's what works for me. Nick was waiting at the finish line, though he totally didn't see me. I guess being small and short didn't quite work to my advantage that time. We estimate that I made it somewhere between 20-25 minutes though we don't know for sure (I didn't want to pay the extra $2 to wear a timing chip).

Right after I finished the race, sneaking up on Nick from behind!My Cheering Squad... (crying counts as cheering, right?)

Alec was sick of the crowd, sick of being strapped in the stroller, and didn't appreciate the 40 degree weather.Lyssa had been all smiles when I left, but got bored when people starting paying attention to the runners and not to her. She, too, did not like the almost freezing temperatures or blasting wind...My race number... with only 4 digits instead of 5 or 6!

The babies, happy as can be once they had their mama back... or maybe it was all the free yogurt, juice, chocolate milk, and fruit.... not to mention freedom from their restraining devices...Nick was proud of me... even though I was a crabby patty all morning before the race...I was touched by the many people there with "In Memory of..." on their t-shirts. In my heart of hearts I fear that someday I'll be wearing a shirt like that. Here's to my Grandma Marion, for being a survivor! And here's to getting that much closer to finding the cure for everyone...