Girls on the Run 5K and Girls Run Fast Ambassador

This morning was our Girls on the Run 5K, our bright shining moment after months of training! I am a GOTR Assistant Coach, and our girls are in grades 3-8. Most of them raced with their moms, dads, or grandparents. It was such a rewarding experience to see them all finish!

our team sign!

rocking the tutu!

with Stacie, our head coach

group photo

 We all met at the Fairhaven Field at 8:30 where our tent was set up. The girls were so excited! We each got our bib and tee, and they had spray on hair color, and Athleta was giving out signs and hair tie bracelets that said Power of the She. LOVE!
At about 9:00 we decided to go to the bathroom. There were port potties but there was also an actual bathroom so I stood on line FOREVER and finally got my turn. The toilets didn't flush, so everyone was just filling the toilets up. Gross! No soap either! Luckily, one of the moms had gel soap. Whew!
Time to line up!

There were about 450 runners, mostly girls, but also brothers, mothers, fathers, and grandparents. The announcer was hard to hear, but you could tell when she asked who was excited!
The race started and we were off. One of our girls wiped out almost immediately, but she hopped right up and ran off! She ended up needing a big ole band aid afterwards, but she ran the whole race with that bloody knee like a badge of honor!
Let me start out by saying it.was.hot.
Holy heck, was it hot!
And hilly! My Fitbit thinks I climbed 11 flights of stairs! Yikes! So many hills. I ran this race as a Coach, so I slowed down a few times when girls (not necessarily our own girls every time) sounded like they were upset or needed encouragement. The second mile was into the wind, and cooled off a little bit, but not much.
We eventually entered the park, and ran along a dirt path, and onto the gravel track to finish. Let me tell you, there was SO much cheering. All along the course were families, people in their front yards, people at the athletic field (most of them there to watch their kids play were cheering us on as well). It was beautiful! These kids were so proud!

 DONE! My time was 38:33, over 6 minutes slower than usual for me, but time wasn't the issue today! A girl gave me a medal, but adults weren't supposed to get one. Oh no! I held onto it while I cheered the rest of our girls in, and planned to give it back afterwards. When I went back, they were handing them out to the adults as well, so I got to keep it. Yay!

I ended up finishing 21st in my age group (a 5 year group, wow!) out of 57, and 163rd out of 451 overall. Not too shabby.
Our team was filled with rock stars! One of our girls placed (I think she won?) the 10 and under group! One of our moms won her AG, 4 of ours dads won or placed in theirs, and one of our assistant coaches won her AG! WOW! Bring it on Point Pleasant!

I got my acceptance email for Girls Run Fast this weekend!

So who are GirlsRunFast™ ambassadors?

• We are lovers of all things healthy. We love running, dancing, yoga swimming and more!
• We love to exercise and make a point to make it a part of every day.
• We have a passion for the good things in life like food, fun and friends!
• We do not believe that you need to live to the extreme to meet a goal.
• We teach and don't preach!
• We RUN!

How amazing is their mission statement? LOVE!

They have amazing stuff in their shop as well! You have to check out their jewelry and hats! They have a special going on right now for visors! The code RUNHAT gets you $5 off! Bonus!

Check back next week for some new earrings and tag charms!

OK, time to rest, I had a crazy day, and have been fighting off a migraine since Friday night!

Did you run this weekend? Was it hot?