The Haiti Half

I've been telling you about it for weeks...and now it's finally in the books! {Or on the blog. However you want to interpret that.}

We first learned about the Haiti Half back around the time of the fair {July} and committed to run it even though Ryan doesn't like that much distance and I wasn't sure I could survive that much distance. We were about halfway through our training when we learned that they had to postpone the actual half marathon race, due to low registrations. But they carried on with the 5K, which was already scheduled to take place on the same day at the same time, so we decided we would run that instead.

We are so glad we did. I am pretty sure neither of our bodies were made for a half and there is not an ounce of shame in that.

We had a stunning day on Saturday to run the race, and I hoped you might allow me to share some pictures???

Some pre-race fun:

{Yeah that's the elementary school principal - also my parents' neighbor. This is what happens when you turn your back on your phone for a second. Randy leaves selfies.}

 This is my friend Amber {my friend since story hour, even before kindergarten!}. She designed the t-shirts for the race and also stood at one of the turns to direct traffic. She cheered me on along the way!! :)

Ryan's friend Randy...I believe they call this a rose between two thorns. :)

Our dear friend Paula. Her husband is our fabulous eye doctor. {You remember the eye doctor saga from earlier this summer.} Love her!

The race started about 9 a.m., so they took us to the starting line, and that was the last I saw of Ryan for the rest of the race. When we ran the 10K before we got engaged, he ran WITH me because I was too chicken to run alone. But this day was his race, and I wanted him to get the good time he could get without me holding him back!

Took these next few from the Haiti Half Facebook page, so photo credit goes to them. And we're off!!

 See Ryan??? Blue shirt on the left.

 See Bekah? She's the one on her phone. LOL!!!!! {I was NOT texting. I was starting my app to time myself.}

The route, you guys, was stunning. Through town, down a highway, through some back roads of fields and beauty,  back into town, and back to the school. After about the first mile, I ran mostly on my own and just so enjoyed the scenery. And by enjoyed, I mean I took pictures. So here you go!

Ryan KILLED IT and finished in twenty-one minutes!!! I still had about a mile to go then!! {Photo credit goes to my mom for coming to catch our memories for us!}

I am so stinking proud of him!! This is AMAZING!!!!!

And then, you know, ten minutes later, I showed up. I was so focused on getting done, I couldn't hear specifics, but I hear my mother was quite the darling cheerleader!!

 You guys, I was so proud of my time. I know those of you who are real runners could do it in the time Ryan did, but for ME, this is a really good time, and I was so pleased. And even more - I had fun running! I really did have fun!

Our cheerleader and photographer:

And we stayed around for the awards, because SOMEONE won for his age category!!

And then we drank our chocolate milk and went home. Despite all the training runs that taxed me and those that I thought might flat out kill me, I am so glad we did this. This was a good thing for us, and I'm glad we had the chance to do it together. And I am proud, proud, proud of Ryan for his amazing time and winning for our NOT OLD age bracket.