In the summer of 2010 my Grampa was diagosed with ALS. A week and 1/2 before Christmas he passed away from complications of the disease. In looking ahead at 2011, I have made it my resolution to run a 5K each month of the year to raise money and awareness for the ALS Association. Every step of the way he is with me and every step of the way we are helping those that will receive the diagnosis this year and/or are currently living with the devastating disease that is ALS. Please donate if you are able by visiting the following link to the Community of Hope Fund page set up in Grampa Hudson's memory. You could donate a small amount each month or a large lump sum for the year, no amount is too small and you can do it when its most convenient for you! http://web.alsa.org/goto/hudsonshoofer

Monday, March 21, 2011

Luck of the Irish

Well, with Grampa's guidance, a little push from the people at Magner's and a hearty Grant Pattee breakfast I clocked in at  31:09 yesterday morning .... 31:09!!!! That's a 2 minute and 17 second difference and that's with the worst hill course I have seen to date. Could not be more pumped about that time!

We started off the day with a lovely breakfast, probably not the wisest choice for a pre-run meal however we needed some absorption for the night before's liquid meals :) It looked a little like this:


And we washed it down with a little of this:


We walked over early to check-in. I was number 36, the rest of the clan was in the 700's and 1600's in Carrie's case. The weather could not have been more ideal, it was cool in the shade with just a slight breeze and sunny all along the way. We took some pre-race stretching photos as follows for your entertainment pleasure hehe:







The race kicked off promptly at 11am, we ran up Dorchester to meet Broadway. Proceeded down Broadway to the Farragut Statue, wrapped around that and ran back up Broadway to the cheers of now thronging crowds getting their seat for the parade at 1pm. We ran down and turned on one of the West siders and wrapped around to West 6th where the finish line was. What isn't mentioned in this description of the 4 MENACING and HORRIFYING hills involved in this course. They tested the old lungs for sure and as I approached the finish line I squinted in the sun to see how far behind my goal of beating 33:26 I was and to my utmost surprise the clock read 32 minutes, that gave me the push I needed to sprint full speed down the rest of the straightaway to cross at 32:46, AND then as if it could get any better we checked our chip times (because in the crowd of 1,900 people your gun time is different than your chip time, so I looked down the list and there was my name next to 31:09 .... 31:09, this must be wrong. BUT I'M TAKING IT!

Here's a couple of our victory post race photos:



Suffice it to say, I'm coming for you in April, 30 minute 5K ... watch out!

Thanks for all the support, don't forget to donate to the fund this month! 
Check back soon for fundraising and training progress and come out and join me for a run this year!
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