Girls (and Craig) on the Run

It started with some pink cupcakes (and unpictured macaroni and cheese)

which we brought to the Girls on the Run pre-race dinner friday night.

The girls signed each other's shirts with permanent marker

and enjoyed a pasta dinner.

Pasta AND veggies, because she's my kid

and because she's REALLY like me, lots of dessert, too.   Cupcakes and cheesecake with a chocolate crumb crust.

We went to bed early, knowing our 5 am wake up call would come all too quickly. 

We bundled up,

and festively adorned our shoes with jingle bells.

The Reindeer Romp was held at the Reston Town Center. 


Filled with restaurants,

(and crazy people taking strange pictures of themselves in storefront windows)

shops galore,

an outdoor skating rink

and a huge Christmas tree.

With our fingers frozen underneath our gloves, we headed to the race site.

there, that's better.

At the race site, we joined thousands of eager (and cold) girls and their buddy runners.  Lady Gaga blared from the sound system as we bounced around trying to stay warm.

Eventually, the race started and we were on our way, hoping our hands and feet would thaw at least midway through  the 3.1 mile course.  The roads were congested with race participants; any hopes of breaking personal running records were slim because of all the traffic.  That's entirely okay.  Girls on the Run is about spirit and attitude, not about winning and losing.  Caroline and Craig broke out ahead and they finished in around 29 minutes.

Sarah and I took the slower and steadier approach.  We finished in about 38 minutes, but I must brag and say that Sarah ran the entire first mile (and even a little further) without stopping to walk.  This is a huge improvement and I'm so proud of her.

There were many girls along the way who were entirely unamused with the situation they were in.  There were so many mom and dad buddy runners pulling their girls by the hand, making them keep moving, despite their loud protests.  I heard a lot of encouraging words, a few bribes and a few threats, which I found really amusing.

In the end, we all finished strong.

Strong and COLD.

Proud

Happy

and cold.

Did I mention it was cold?

No worries, though.  This warmed us up quite nicely.

Amen.