Chick-Fil-A 5K

Labor Day was the Chick-Fil-A 5K race in Memphis. This race, which had 976 participants, is one of our favorites. It begins in downtown Memphis, goes down to the river, runs along the river for a while, back up a huge hill on Beale Street, and finally finishes inside the Redbird Stadium. Since I was pushing the stroller, I began near the back with the walkers and slow joggers. I actually jogged the entire race except for the hill on Beale. A really nice man helped me push the stroller up that steep hill. I have begun to enjoy racing with the stroller (still not my favorite thing to do, but I have learned to make the best of it!), because of all of the nice people I visit with while running. When I am running alone I am always trying to run my personal best. I listen to my iPod, and I am focusing on running. When I am running with the stroller, I have no chance to even come close to a decent time, so I leave the iPod at home and talk to Sam and Leah during the race, pointing out landmarks to them and waving at the policemen and people on the sideline cheering us on. People who are running this pace are usually very friendly. We have short conversations along the way. And of course, most of them have to comment on my pushing two children while running. What if they knew I had FIVE CHILDREN! I can only imagine their comments then :) Anyway, these people are very encouraging to each other, and it makes the race fun.

The results:

Jimmy--4th place

Olivia--3rd place

Julie--1st place

Clay--5th place

Me--30th out of 63!!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Leah
Julie and Jimmy
Sam--he slept during and after the race
Peek-a-boo Clay!!
Olivia with her medal