We lucked out on the weather! The forecast was gloomy and I could not sleep Friday night thinking there would be a tornado and we would all be swept away while running! Well, lack of sleep for not because it truly was near perfect running weather, a little chilly standing around but warm when the sun came out and the run started!
We met at Dairy Queen for a group photo and then we headed over for bag drop and the bathroom lines, holy cow those were long lines this year! I lost a lot of you, sorry about that! We have become such a big group it is really hard to keep track. You were there one moment and gone the next! Here is the group photo at 8:30am Saturday morning.
MSRC - GIG 2009
Anneke joined me (with coffee, awesome lady) to cheer you all on. We stayed around at the start, did you know there were 5000 runners between the 10K and inaugural half marathon? The corral took at least 5 minutes to empty! We waited with Jacque, Jane, and Aleisha for the start of the 5K . They were excited and ran with 1500 other 5K runners. We then meandered over the Ford Bridge to the St. Paul side to cheer and I think we saw almost all of the 10K runners. I have some photos to share at the end of this blog. We got over there and Ruth and Renae were there too so it was a perfect little cheering section and I might add, a great location, no wind and no one else there to yell over!
I should list out who I believe was running each race and who I think finished successfully.
5K – Jane Appold, Aleisha Kruck, Jacque Howard
10K – Rachel Franco, Linda Tally, Caitlin Halmrast, Jane Kline, Linda Jahnke, Jess Wolney, Alissa Garcia, Karey Mason, Cari Weber, Debbie McTaggart, Sarah Anderson, Steph Hartman, Nora Vernon, Monica Elliot, Sue Fite, Vicki Henderson, Elizabeth Weisberg
Half Marathon – Missy and Jane Hogan (on a side, Jane ran with her 2 daughters and Elle, her oldest daughter won the half marathon race AND big news, Jane got 2nd in her age group, way to go Jane!!!!)
What a fantastic accomplishment for all of you! Great run and way to work towards a goal and accomplish it! I am so excited for you all! The potential in our club is limitless!
Special thanks goes out to Karey Mason, a new member and 10K runner, for helping at packet pick up on Friday. Also, big thanks to Carrie, Stella, Robin, Dawn, Sarah, Anneke, Ruth, and anyone else I am missing for cheering on MSRC members even though they/you were not running the race that day! I think the support is MUCHO important, having a cheering section is just a special feeling! Thanks for making up the cheering section you all!
Here are some photos from the race (more will be posted on the website soon)! All of these, except the one of Missy and Jane is at mile 5 or the Ford Bridge.
Linda Tally
Jane Kline
Linda Jahnke
Jane & Missy nearing the finish GIG Half Marathon 2009
