Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K

This past weekend, the American Cancer Society hosted their annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K!  This 5K was advertised as a "walk", but runners were welcome!  

For those of you who don't know - I'm an Oncology Nurse and I work very close with the local American Cancer Society - so this race meant a lot to me!

Prior to the Making Strides Event, Heather and I met up with our running group for our scheduled 8 mile run!

The weather was AMAZING and we had a fabulous run! Here we are with Amanda and our coach!

Back at the 5K, we met up with our team -

...and I tried to convince Heather to warm up to the Macarena. She claimed she was already warm. Of course.

Opening the event with a word of prayer....

We broke off into groups for the 5K portion of the event. We decided to run the route but weren't sure how efficient our run would be!

We joined the mass group of walkers at the start line. Someone accused me of trying to take pictures of the firemen! Hah!

    

The run was beautiful - the route took us through the winding streets of a local neighborhood. We kept very good pace and really enjoyed ourselves! They also supplied plenty of water during the course. Surprisingly, this was not an out and back course which I LOVED! We actually ran 3.1 miles through the same neighborhood without backtracking! Loved it!!!

   

There were not many runners on the course and we a good bit ahead of the walkers. As we approached the finish line and a few high school girls in front of us, I whispered to Heather "Let's take them!" We started to speed up, and the girls caught on to what we were doing - so they started to sprint! By the time we hit the finish line, we were all in a full steam sprint and all three crossed the finish line at the same time.

    

The funny part about it - this race wasn't even a timed race! Hah! I felt like I gave max effort at the end and almost up-chucked. TMI, sorry! After having run 8 miles prior to the 5K, we were able to keep a 9 minute pace, and we finished the race at 27:04. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the event!

Here come the walkers - the Survivors and those walking in Honor/Memory of loved ones!  Spirits were high and there was a ton of excitement in the air!

Cancer touches more than just the people diagnosed. It has an impact on everyone around them. That's why the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk unites communities to celebrate people who have battled breast cancer, educate people about ways to reduce their risk, and empower communities to join the fight. Every dollar you raise and every step you take will save lives by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back against breast cancer.

Taken from the Making Strides Event Website. 

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Breast cancer is still killing and impacting far too many of our loved ones. Get involved and help spread awareness! :0)