Kylie Runs the Hills: LHI Run for Hope 2012 Race Recap

This past weekend, Emily and I (along with Emily's parents, brother, and friends) ran the LHI Run for Hope 2012 5K/Mile Fun Run. Living Hope International is building an orphanage in Zambia and the money raised will be going towards those building efforts. There was a rendering of the design set up in the church (Oak Pointe Church in Novi). Very cool. Adoption is a cause close to my heart as my siblings and I are adopted (domestic), and I love to run for a great cause!

To start off the race, I took out my camera to take a picture, and my battery said "Exhausted." Ironically, that is exactly how we were all feeling. Friday night, Emily and a group of friends had gone to Cedar Point for Halloweekends. We didn't get home until 2:30 AM. When I arrived home, I found out that "he who shall not be named," had accidentally left the gate open, and both Sydney and Kona had gotten loose. So, at 2:30 in the morning I was combing the woods and neighbor's backyards for my lost dog. I'm sure I frightened everyone...Sorry, neighbors, do not panic, I'm not trying to rob you. Just looking for my prodigal dog. Fortunately, I found Sydney around 3:30 AM, and Kona had run back to the house shortly before.

So after a great night's sleep, of 3.5 hours, I woke up and was out the door by 8:45, to get to Emily's at 9 to leave for the run. Fortunately, this was a 10 AM start run, which gave us more time to try and revive our tired legs. Also, Emily's parents were kind enough to do packet pick up for us earlier that morning, as packet pick-up started at 7:30 AM.

When we arrived at the church, where home base was, it was about 40 degrees and quite chilly, however, I checked the weather and it said "no rain until the afternoon." Around 9:40 we meandered to the start line to watch the end of the "Fun mile" run and wait for ours to start. In between this time, I met a new friend named Kellie. She is a friend of Emily's family and is running the Free Press Half next week. (I am running the full). We started chatting, and I decided to tag along with her on the run. Additionally, the course was USATF certified, and I was excited because this is the first time I've run a certified course! We started promptly at 10 AM, which was great because it was starting to rain and very cold and windy. Kellie and I made our way through a very nice subdivision and down a small grassy hill to a wood chip path. It was really pretty running through the woods, if only for a minute or two. Then, it was back into the subdivision, where we stayed til we reached the finish line. There was one water station in the middle, and hats off to the volunteer standing in the rain holding out water cups! I didn't stop, but I was glad there was a water stop should I have needed it. We were averaging a 8:15 mile according to my Garmin, which is a little faster than my "fast" pace, but it was really great to have Kellie pacing me, and have someone to chat with as well. I never have a racing partner, and she was a life-saver after no sleep, and freezing weather.

We got to mile 3 and all of a sudden Emily's little brother came running out of no where and speedily raced on to the finish line. I was slightly jealous. GO Ian!!! Then the rain was starting to come down and we just pushed ourselves, and I finished with a time of 25:51, over a minute PR for the 5K for me. I also won first in my age group. Kellie won 2nd in her AG! Congrats, Kellie! We then waited for the rest of our group to finish. We were standing on the side watching the runners come in, when we saw a blur of pink barreling towards us. Ian said "is that my mom???." Let me back up and tell you that Mary, is Emily's mom, and is not normally a runner. BUT, she is the fastest walker I have ever seen in my entire life, and walks everyday on her lunch break. Anyway, Mary was running her first 5K. She said "I got so caught up in the excitement, I had to run." So awesome! Great job, Mary! So glad I got to see it!

After we gathered all our people, we went back to the church, where they had water bottles, and some granola bars and other snacks. I was so thankful that we were able to go inside, because waiting out in that weather would have been killer. We stayed for the age group awards, and since Emily and I had both won 1st in our AG's we got LHI Waterbottles! The overall winners received running store gift certs. A fitting prize, indeed. I also need to mention that this 5K gave out finisher's medals to everyone. That is pretty special, because most 5Ks do not give out finisher's medals. We also received a Brooks long-sleeve tech shirt in our race packets. As always, I am an awkward turtle with sizing, and after a few races where my size small shirt was Barbie sized, I now tend to order a medium. Well, the medium is a bit big on me, but it's such a great quality shirt, I will definitely wear it. You can see in the photos, the tech shirts, as some people wore theirs right away.

The Prodigal dog was found safe and sound.

Also, most of the pictures I will post are from DS Photography Dan Smith of DS photography, kindly donated his time, and photography skills to photograph the race. AND, he allowed us to download the pictures from his website, free of charge! Most race photos, you have to pay for, so this was a really neat opportunity! Thank you very much Mr. Smith! This was a great event, for a great cause! I hope to run next year as well! Overall, it was very organized and had a great set up. Thank you to all the volunteers, and race coordinator for such a fun time!

Us, the night before at Cedar Point. Some how, I managed to look super geeky. Yes, I am wearing the same neon orange sweatshirt as race day. I had a fear of getting lost at Cedar Point. Made sure everyone could see me at all times :) Photo courtesy of Emily's phone!