Road Runners Classic 2019 Photos 7.3 Mile Drive The 2019 Road Runners Classic had the best post-race food tent of all time!  It was huge!  There were homemade goodies, pizza, fruit, brownies…you name it, it was there.  I loved the variety so much.  They also had wet towels at the finish line.  The wet towel around my neck was the greatest thing in the world in that moment.  It was so sad returning them.  I loved being at Maybury again but this time the heat got to me and it was very challenging.  The course was almost identical to Flirt with Dirt.  Jason was gone this time.  Even in the shaded areas of the trail the heat was bad.  I do not like summer running for this reason.  Road Runner's Classic will go down as the most brutal temperature run of the summer.  I saw Suzy's husband Brad timing the run.  Chris and the kids had a blast getting full face paint and seeing animals.  They had a really nice...

   Wings of Mercy 2019 Photos 50 Mile Drive The 2019 Wings of Mercy was my first run without Jason after he left for his longest training in Georgia.  We went up to Linden with dad and Sue. Dad and Luke ran the 5K with me.  All three of us got our best 5K times on a super flat, fun, cool night course on a runway!   Wings of Mercy has saved lives by means of volunteer pilots and staff.  I gave kuddos to the Ainsley's Angels I passed on the course.  They are truly inspirational pushing people that cannot run in wheelchairs.  They bring a lot of hope and happiness to people with special needs or medical impairments.   I bought a great handmade Mountain Dew can airplane from a grandmother raising softball money for her grandson.  It was much cheaper than the ones I’ve always admired at the Plymouth Art Fair with the same quality.  The race volunteers were wonderful and very helpful.  Linden high school students put our re...

  Liberty Fest Run 2019 Photos 5.2 Mile Drive The 2019 Liberty Fest Run was superhero themed with my friend Jodi landing her first race director role!  This was one run I did not make a costume for when so many other runners came in red white and blue.  We got to take a golf cart ride from parking to the start area.  The course was the same as last year.  I did significantly better with my time, landed and age group mug and got a great race picture this year.   The kids had fun with Orange Theory’s booth spinning their wheel of prizes.  We got to meet Wonder Woman at the age group ceremony.  She was older, and looked fantastic.  To be a convincing Wonder Woman at that age means she is doing something right.  We got the pancake breakfast again.  This year Spiderman and Mary Poppins were at the pancake breakfast.  The man in charge of making the pancakes would flip them to you and see if you could catch them on your plate....

   Beat the Wheat 2019 Photos 5.6 Mile Drive The 2019 Beat the Wheat 5K was Luke's first 5K!  It was an amazing choice as his first 5K being a Celiac Disease run.  He could eat everything at the race.  This year they did not have a raffle.  The course was the same 1.55 miles down Hines Drive and back starting from the grass arch.  This year the t-shirts were glow-in-the-dark.  It was awesome that Luke registered the year of glowing event shirts.   Mom and Mary Jane walked the 5K to show their support.  It was so awesome for them to be there with us.  I had just run Flirt with Dirt making today a 10K split for me.  I want to run Beat the Wheat every year for Luke.  I also wanted to complete my Trail Series with RF Events for the first time.  Flirt with Dirt happened to be on the same day, but luckily the races were hours apart and very close in location.   Luke and I both got medals!  Mine was for a...

   Flirt With Dirt 2019 Photos 9 Mile Drive I love Maybury State Park.  I practice there to get trail workouts in and we walk the trails a lot with the kids.  I was so excited when I saw the 2019 Flirt with Dirt was moved to Maybury this year for the second run in the Serious Trail Series.  It was originally planned to be in Lake Shore Park.  Construction on the trails caused the venue change.  I ran the course three times the week before the race.  I eventually got it down, but I made a few wrong turns the first time.  We walked the course the night before.  I saw my friend Jodi from RF Events at church and found out she will be the Race Director of the 2019 Liberty Fest Run!  We had a long corral with flags for our start.  The course was well marked.  It went through all my favorite areas of Maybury.  The finish was a turn from total shade into a bright sunny clearing by the parking lot.  All the people appeare...

   Paws in the Park 2019 Photos 56 Mile Drive Dogs were everywhere at the 2019 Paws in the Park in Jackson!  There were games, prizes, a Kissing Chihuahua booth, a photobooth and food! The Detroit Circus performed.  Water and agility dogs performed. The course was fun through the park and out onto the streets of Jackson.  There were so many dog runners.  I had one finish in front of me and right behind me.  We dropped Jason off to LARP in Chelsea after the run and I came back with the kids for the post-run activities.  A severe thunderstorm hit Jackson and caused everyone to shut down earlier than planned.  We still got a few hours at the event.  We parked at a T-Mobile store by the 94 on ramp and watched small hail come down.  Jason had shelter in a cabin in the woods.  The kids really liked the hail.  It was an awesome day!  I think I was given a child’s shirt by mistake.  It is the one running shirt I will nev...

   Burton Memorial Day 2019 Photos 66 Mile Drive The 2019 Burton Memorial Day Run was my first Burton Memorial Day run. I missed 2018. Unlike 2018, this sealed in my series medal incase I get injured again for the Veteran's Run in November. They gave all of us all ice cream bars after the race! Jason and the  kids got ice cream.  I saw a handful of amazing dogs and the competitive walkers blew me away!  They had a sign-making station and all three kids made me a sign they were holding at the finish line.  Their signs were awesome. The run was very hot and flat with the sun beating down on us. 70 felt like 80 degrees.   I placed in my age group and got an awesome HUGE belt buckle style age group medal in addition to a surprise finisher medal at the finish. The engraved cutting boards for best overall runners were stunning.  I met some amazing men, one who ran with an American Flag, which I always love seeing, and one who does the Burton Series...

   Fruitport Old Fashioned Fun Days 5K 2019 Photos 172 Mile Drive There are six cities in the state of Michigan with Smiley water towers and I love that Fruitport is one of them.  It made the 2019 Old Fashioned Days 5K much more awesome!  :)  We got a late start to our super early morning.  With the long drive I got to registration just minutes late. Registration was a good distance from the start of the run.  It got my bib and shirt at a concession stand.  The race start was 300 feet down the track, around the viewing bleachers and through a gate into a neighborhood. I ran to the start line and started late with no chip timing in place. I was out of breath before I began the race.  Of course the one run I miss the start to had no timing mats making me destined to have an inaccurate finish time.  There were cool people in Fruitport in lawn chairs supporting us on the course.  The course was on pavement through neighborhoods.  I...