Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Mountaineer 5K

On the 23rd, some ladies from my ward and myself decided to participate in a 5K for stroke victims.

I was so excited to run this race. I have been working so hard in the gym to get my body in shape. I have always wanted to do a 5K and decided that participating in a 5K would be a great goal to work towards.

After finding a few people in my ward who wanted to do a 5K, we decided on the race that supported stroke victims. A mother of one of the ladies who did the 5K with, has suffered a couple of strokes.

Also, after talking to my mom I realized that both of her grandmas passed away due to strokes or complication of strokes. Another relative who suffered a stroke was Brandon's grandpa. He passed away due to complications from a stroke last November. I figured this was a great race for me becuase it supported a cause that had meaning to me.

Myself and the group of ladies I was doing the 5K with, met before the race to get our numbers, goody bags and stretch before the race. Erin, Heidi, Angie, Me, Whitney
Of course we had to get another picture once we got our numbers on.

I loved having the ladies there with me when we started the race. It was a great support group. I think all of us were a little nervous for the race, but everyone did FANTASTIC!

Below is a picture after the race.My goal was to run (slow jog) the whole race and I did. I was so proud of myself. Brandon was able to get some shots of me running the last little bit of the race. He tried to get a close up picture when I was getting close to cross the finish line, but our camera died.

At the end of the race, there was this huge hill. As I slowly made my way up the hill, I noticed my adorable kids and sweet husband cheering me on. Hyrum and Brandon were holding a sign they made that said, "Good Job Mommy! We Love You!" Seeing my sweet family gave me the strength to keep going. I was so tired when I crossed the finish line. Emmy was so upset that I turned and went to the finish line instead of coming to her. When the kids saw me they said, "Go Mommy." For the rest of the day Emmy would say, "Race. Go Mommy!" It was so cute! Hyrum loved cheering on all his little friends mom ("Go Chloe's Mom", "Go Lexi's Mom", etc.)

Waiting for mom to finish the race

While we were waiting for the race to finish, the kids went and played in a jump house that they had for the event. They loved it!

The 5K was such a fun and rewarding experience. I am very much looking forward to doing a couple more 5Ks before the year is out.

12 comments:

Sarah and Scott said...

That is great! I am very impressed that you ran the entire time (even if it was slow)

Jill said...

Good job on your race! I think most people would agree when I say that I have a very strong love/hate relationship with running. Especially races!

Nic and Ashley Haws said...

Good for you! That is so AWESOME! You are so inspiring!!! Keep up the awesome running! You are so great to do that! ...and what an great way to be a good example for your children!

Gurr Family said...

I am proud of you. That is something that I don't know if I could do but I am going to try next year for the Teton Dam marathon.

Jill Revell said...

Way to go! I honestly couldn't job the entire way. But maybe by the end of the year I'll work up to that.

mamasteph said...

Way to go Natalie! You are awesome!

meg said...

Congratulations on your first race. Way to meet your goals!

Greg and Tammy said...

WOW!!! That is AWESOME! I'm proud of you! Training with three kids can not be an easy task and running the whole way is not something that I could do! KUDOS!!

salem said...

WOOO! highfive :)

Bonnie said...

That is so great! Way to go!I am so impressed that you are able to train with 3 little kids, you're amazing!

Brian and Melissa Finley said...

Way to go Natalie! How fun to run with everyone. Wish we were still there, I would have run with you :)

Willow Withy said...

Natalie- I am 100% proud of you! A lot of people set goals and even work towards them, but few actually follow through with them. Way to get out there, girl! I love the sweet signs your kids were holding up for you.