Three Things Thursday - PCRF Reaching for the Cure 5k Recap

1. Hyperbole and a Half is BACK!!!!! Man, that's exciting.

2. As Becka posted Tuesday, we are in week 2 of the #NotEatingAllTheThings Challenge.

While I was very busy the last several months NOT training for Eugene Marathon, I was also very busy eating everything I ever wanted.

The good news is, that according to the scale, I didn't gain much. Less than 5 lbs, I'd guess (I'm guessing because I don't really weigh myself frequently, I'm just going by the numbers I remember last, and where I was yesterday).

The bad news is, watching what you eat is NOT FUN, and it's especially NOT FUN when you're doing it in an effort to lose weight, and not just being weird.

I can't think of anything less exciting than posting what I eat daily, so instead of sharing all of that information with the internet machine, twitter, and instagram, B and I have been texting pictures to each other, to keep us in line.

It is as sad and lame as you'd expect. Here, I'll share some of that joy.

Yeah.

3. Reaching for the Cure 5k!

This year, I made the smart call to drop down to the 5k, in the name of "Eugene Recovery". The forecast was for cool temps and cloudy skies, though, and I resisted this change until the very last second - really, I didn't switch my distance until Sunday morning at 6:45am.

I love the back of the bibs!! Look at all that info!

The half starts at 7am, and the 5k a bit after at 7:15.

Heeeeeey, speedy Pam!

Sheila and the kidlets joined us for the 5k, in their Team Gab shirts :D

Two water stations for the 5k! (Thanks, volunteers!)

Reach for a Cure, indeed!

left turn for the 5k.......

There's a quick out and back, then on to the river path towards the finish.

Oh, the river path. My nemesis.

Haaaaa.

Oh, hey, I'm almost done!

Not quite a PR day, but they look like they had fun, right?!

As part of the fundraising, the Doubletree Irvine hosts accomodations for the VIP runners who raise above $1,500. It's a great property, they have always been inredibly nice, and even though the race start is less than 4 miles from my front door, I love staying there the night before.

After I finished the 5k (in a not-speedy-but-surprising-time-for-easy-effort) in 32:14, I walked back to the hotel to pick up the kids, and then back down to the finish line to watch for Pam, Madison, and The H (remember last year, when he said he would never, ever run a half marathon again? Ha).

At our VIP pasta dinner Saturday night, the girls were gifted with matching training shirts. They have been part of my training with PCRF from day one, and I love that PCRF thought of them, too.

Heeeeeey, Pam!

Gabby's teacher ran the half! Hi, Mrs. A!

And I'm the worst human at spectating - Gab's teacher had to get my attention, and so did Madison - I was watching for both, but totally missed them. I'm lame.

The tiny yellow speedy person is M.

The H looks super smiley, but he told me he was bummed he didn't do better than last year.

To give this some perspective, last year, he trained fairly intensively, and finished in 2:02ish. This year, he took basically the last 3-4 weeks pretty much off, and finished in 2:03:41.

Shut up, you.

So, overall, I loved th 5k. It was SO MUCH FUN running easy, enjoying the course, and then getting to spectate for the half??? SO MUCH FUN.

I was a little sad when we got our medals....

But then I got to go to the beer tent, so I guess it evens out.

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And, like the last two years, Gab loooooved this bouncing thing.

Obviously, this race means a lot to us, and I will likely run it going forward.

In my unbiased opinion, it's a really well organized event, and the family expo afterwards cannot be beat. It is FREE to enter, the bouncy things are FREE, there were samples of Weinerschnitzel, Jamba Juice, Juice it Up, Pop Chips, and other stuff. Face painting. Petting zoos. Balloon animals. Tons of stuff.

There is a 5k run, 5k walk, 10k run, and the half marathon - all are really reasonably priced.

And, most most most importantly, the VIP Fundraising team this year raised almost $60,000 for pediatric cancer research - that's $200,000 over the last three years, since we started.

The event overall this year came in at almost $650,000 for pediatric cancer research.

Reaching for a cure, indeed.