Michele's Melee...

Yesterday was the For Women Only 5K and boy was it warm! Okay, maybe not....

The mania began around 7:30 when people started arriving at St Joe's to prepare for the race. It was chilly. Maybe cold. So we congregated inside the building and hung out waiting for the race to start or the snow.

We managed to find everybody and had a great time hanging out before the festivities got started. Our good friend Marc took some amazing pictures which can be seen here (you rock Marc!). Then it was time to head to the start line.

The women all got in line to start... and they looked so excited! The horn sounded and they were off... none too soon for the men, non-runners, and children who promptly went back inside to warm up.

I'm sure there are tales to tell from the course (I'll leave that for Michele in a later post) but we were warm and content. Though there was an alarming lack of coffee... someone could have made a killing. Daddies talk, babies slept... my perspective of the race may be a bit skewed.

Finally it was time to head to the finish line. There was a trickle of Melee memebers, then a flood (results here if you dare)... including Michele happy, tired, glad to be done. She has run many a 5k(including running a 33:51 when she was four months pregnant!), but this one was the most difficult. She hasn't been able to walk 3 miles much less run for the last six months and she did great. I'm very proud of you Michele. She says she is going to run the whole thing next year, so ladies start training!

After the race a bunch of people came back to our house to hang out and we had a blast. We definitely set a baby/house record and ate and drank and ate. Michele, Alexandra, and I are still trying to recover from the weekend, but it was a more than worth it.

I want to thank everybody who was part of this great weekend, be it in person or in spirit. The love and support that we have been given over the last five months is more than we could have expected and much more than we will ever be able to repay. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We are still collecting the last of the donations to The Wellness Center (details to follow) so please give if you feel you can. T-shirts were a hit (thanks again Cheri & Ian!) and ran short... I'll be making at least two more for Erin and Colleen (you deserve them) so if anyone wants one, or another one, let me know.

You ladies all rock... maybe we can do it again next year!