Be The One Run

Lake Harriet

There are a couple of things I try to live by:
1) Work hard.
2) Be kind.
3) Eat real food.
4) If a friend asks you to do/support something, and you are able to, you really should.

My friend Sarah was a bone marrow donor a few years ago (read her incredible story here) and has been very involved in the Be the Match organization ever since. This May, she asked me to be on her team for the Be the One Run and, without really thinking about the fact that I don't run, I accepted.

You know, if your friends are passionate about something, and you have the capacity to be supportive, then you should do just that. So, for a few weeks, I laced up my tennis shoes, and tried to enjoy running. I was, admittedly, a little worried.

The week before the race I was fighting off a bad cold, so much so that the night before I drank as much orange juice as I could and slept instead of attending a bbq. But then race day came and it was beautiful. We were running along Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, which is serene and outdoorsy enough to make you forget you're in the city.

For the first half mile, I walked with a few friends. Since I had trained alone, I was not used to a big crowd of people surrounding me. Once the masses had cleared a bit, I took off. I ended up running the rest of the race! It was the first time I'd ever run a race that I had "trained" for and it was actually really fun. Another friend of mine was an announcer, so when I crossed the finish line, I even got a little shout out! And that was that, folks, I'd finished my first 5K.

Our team! Nickers, me, Sarah, Aly & her sister.

My second 5K of the year is coming up quickly, and I have to be honest, I haven't been running. I'm going to try to pick it up again in the coming weeks.


Have you been entered any races lately?