Giving Back....

Today myself, my husband and many friends joined together to operate a water / aid station for the 40th annual Tallahassee Marathon! To say that we had a blast, would not even do it justice!! 

Our crew was amazing! 

Most of us who volunteered are runners by hobby; however, we were not 100% sure to what to expect being on the "other" side of the table. I think it's safe to say we were all pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had cheering on friends and strangers. We were a tiny bit overwhelmed at the number of folks asking for Gatorade on their way out at the 2 mile mark. That overwhelming feeling did not stop us from working hard and serving all those runners to the best of our ability! 

By the time the runners got back to us, we were more than ready to welcome them back  with cheers, hugs, water, Gatorade, cookies, candy, medicine or anything else they might need to finish the last mile or so of their races. Some of them just seemed to enjoy our silliness and wanted nothing except to exchange a smile and a high five! 

What did I take away from this experience today? I learned that our sport is in fact a team sport, we all need each other's encouragement to make it to the finish line sometimes! We were able to be a blessing to someone today, wow that's a pretty amazing feeling! I am reminded that my pace doesn't matter, just place one foot in front of the other and move. 

Sharing this day with my love made it even better! 

There are so many ways that we as runners can give back. We can volunteer for local races, we can donate our time to help plan local races, we  canmake donations or  we can run "for" someone.  All of these are great opportunities to support your local running communities! I am so happy to have spent the day giving back to our local running club today! 

I'm excited to share with you a virtual race, Run for Hope 5/10K, being hosted by one of my best friends and her running buddies. Dawn E. and the rest of her team Warriors for William are a team of St. Jude's Heroes that are raising awareness to help continue research and lifesaving care by fundraising as they run for William. 

Warriors for William at the Hot Chocolate 15K in Atlanta, Ga

To read their story and register for their Run for Hope Virtual 5/10K please visit this link: http://stjudesheroeswarriorsforwilliam.weebly.com. . Registration is open through the end of March. I'm excited to see their team come up with more fundraising ideas before they hit Nashville for the final race for William! 

I strongly encourage you to get on the "other" side for the table! Volunteer or find a cause to run for as it will change your perspective on our sport and yourself! 

Happy Running! 
Mitzi