Running with a Purpose

Back in the spring, I really got into doing 5 k races and marathon relays. When I say "marathon relays" people for some reason automatically disregard the "relay" part of the term and assume I heroically ran a full 26.2 mile race. That's ridiculous folks.

Now, I would love to someday run such a gallant race, but I'm 100 percent confident that will be a long time from today.

The relays allowed four to five of me and my racing buddies to split up the 26.2 miles into increments, so some of us ran 3.1 miles, some ran 6.5 and some ran 7.6...or however the particular race had it divided up.


Regardless of the distance, these races usually provide us with the chance to work together to finish, and nearly all of these races are to raise money for a particular cause.

The coolest race I've done so far (I make it sound like I've ran just thousands of races...I'm still very much an amateur) was the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Relay. Our team the "Tri-State Trotters" ran in some rather, umm... let's say, less than favorable weather conditions. When the race started at 6:30am, it was about 37 degrees and drizzling on us. We had to catch overloaded buses to get to our exchange points, and that was a story all it's own. But, at the end of the race, our team of five runners had placed fourth overall out of all the women in a race that had nearly 50,000 people present. Plus, we got cool medals and all the NutterButters we could handle after finishing.

But the coolest thing about the race was the cause. Some ran in honor of loved ones who died in the bombing in 1995. During my 7.6 trek, I came upon several runners who had pictures on their backs of victims. That was their reason for running. It motivated them.

It's so easy to sit on the couch and say, "Oh, I'll run tomorrow." Which is exactly what I did last night. Lazy bum. But, sometimes when you realize that you're so fortunate to have functioning legs, or the mere ability to get up and run, it puts things in perspective. When you run these races for a particular cause, not only are you using your God-given ability to be mobile, but you're raising money to help others who can't.

The Lubbock affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is next weekend, and I've signed up to run the race with a team from the church I've been going to. I'm also running in honor of my grandmother, Reta Thompson, who had breast cancer.
We likely all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. I know way too many people who have had to deal with it.

I'm not much of a solicitor, and I never intended to use this blog as a money raiser, but if you've got a few extra dollars you can throw into the Komen Foundation, then click here to donate and I will run in your place. Some good buddies have already donated and I am very appreciative.


Click Here to Donate

I haven't exactly trained for this 3.1 miler like I have for other races in the past, but while I may be huffing and puffing out there with burning legs and aching lungs, I know that there are many suffering from this awful disease that would gladly trade places with me.