I'll admit, mother's day started a little earlier than I would have liked when I woke up to do the Race for the cure. I had my alarm set for 5:30 am, but for whatever reason (snoring husband) I woke up at 4:36 (to be exact) and couldn't fall back to sleep.
My sister's BFF, Marta was diagnosed last July with Breast Cancer. So my mom, my sister, my niece (and others) all signed up to walk the Race for the Cure (breast cancer walk) on Mother's Day. As it turned out, my mom did something to her knee and was unable to walk, so it was just my sister, my niece and I.
Oh yes, we were Team Mar-TA-TA in honor of Marta. How cute were we?
Anyway we met up with Marta, Marta's daughter Jackie and my sister's other friend Annette at Amy's house to all ride down together.
Annette, Jackie, MARTA!!, Me, Amy, Abbey |
We arrived down at the race festivities and met up with Marta's whole team. She had just about 40 people on her team. I think it is pretty awesome that everyone came together to honor and support her. Clearly so many people love and support her, so that should tell you the type of person she is. Marta, you truly are an inspiration.
At 7:30 there was a survivors parade and then everyone gathered together to sing some songs and important people spoke some kind words. It was amazing to see all these courageous women who fought and survived breast cancer.
Some of the women were 50 year survivors. How awesome is that? Unfortunately, for every survivor, I think there was someone there walking for someone else who wasn't as fortunate. It's so sad seeing people who were walking to honor someone's MEMORY.
It hit too close to home for my sister's other friend Annette, who recently lost her aunt.
Aside from the obvious reasons we were there (to honor and celebrate those that beat breast cancer and to remember those that didn't) it was fun being near my old college campus and the park looked beautiful on the incredibly sunny (but cold) day.
After the ceremony, we made our way to the start line for the 5K walk. It was so incredibly crowded. I can't even estimate how many people were there, but it was THOUSANDS!!! It was tough to walk because it was so heavily crowded. It was especially hard if you intended to walk at anything other than an snail's pace.
accidental photo bomb by one of our teammates who rear ended us. haha |
We walked slowly through for the first mile or so, but eventually we really started moving, weaving in and out to make better time.
When we finally arrived at the finish line I was so happy.
Walking a 5k takes WAAAAAY too long.
I was so happy to be a part of this special day honoring so many breast cancer survivors and helping to raise money for research and prevention. I'm glad I got to do this with my sister and was sad my mom couldn't be there.
Marta, you are a brave survivor and I am happy to have been a part of your team and your special day. Here's to MANY more years of celebration in your recovery. You're a fighter and I'll be glad to walk with you (even if it's at snail's pace through all the meandering walkers) ANYDAY!
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