Unleash the SHE 5K

Another first! This is the first time I ran a race in honor of somebody and actually did some fundraising for the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related death in women. The survival rate has barely improved since the “War on Cancer” was declared over 40 years ago. Due to the lack of an early detection test, over 80% of ovarian cancer is diagnosed in the late stages. I ran in honor of my Aunt Grace. She lost her battle against Ovarian Cancer in 2013.

I roped in my sister and brother to do the race with Eric and I. This was my brother's first 5K since his hip replacement in January. Amazing!

There were 900 people (mostly women and a few brave men) that participated in the race. There was the timed run for women only and the coed untimed walk/run. Mike and Nancy did the walk. Eric was going to go with the walkers but he saw some men go with the runners so he changed his mind. He eventually caught up to me before mile 1.

We couldn't have asked for a better day. The sun was shining and it was 48 degrees. The race itself was on a flat course and was a bit crowded. The first mile seemed to take forever. The second mile flew by and the third seemed long again. I think Mile 3 seemed long because we were running into the wind the whole way. Even though it was a light breeze at 7 mph, it was tiring. Overall my time was slower than Goldy's which is a bit disappointing but this race wasn't as big as Goldy's and I didn't know the course to know when to kick it into high gear. It was a good run overall, I'm happy with it.

When I crossed the finish line, the announcer said my name and said I was running in honor of my Aunt Grace. I was surprised to hear that. It was very bittersweet.

Mike and Nancy came in at 57 minutes. Very impressive! I'm so proud of Mike. 

The after run snacks were great! They had your standards, water, oranges and bananas but also Oreos, animal crackers and Cheez-its. It was a good day to fight ovarian cancer!