We Did It!

In spite of some awful road detours on our way to the parking lot, we made it to the Scope It Out 5K in plenty of time. We sat in the car eating breakfast in the cold drizzle. The thermometer said 50, but it felt much chillier with the light rain soaking our clothes. We walked about 3/4 of a mile up to the start line, grabbed our bibs and t-shirts, and took a picture on the stage.

Here we are blissfully pre-race. Our sign says “In Honor of Abi,” since that is what Ellie called him before she could say Roger. After short wait, it was time for us to head over to the start. We made our way back behind the 12 minute mile start group. Then we were off.
But if you have ever done one of these, you know that it takes a while for 2000 people to get through the starting gate. About 1.5 minutes in, we crossed the start line running. Unfortunately, Lisa had forgotten her inhaler at the car, so we had to slow down shortly thereafter. I ran ahead to the car, which was conveniently parked just off the course, and grabbed the inhaler and ran back before Lisa and the kids passed by. After that, it was just a matter of keeping our quick walking pace up. We finished just under 44 minutes, about a 14 minute mile pace.
Our only regret was not getting a picture in the colon. Yes, they had a blow-up colon you could walk through. We just didn’t have enough time to get that picture, unfortunately.
After we got home, Lisa called Roger at the hospital. He wasn’t exactly lucid, because he’s had some complications from the surgery, including a 104 degree fever and some blood clots in his legs. They’ve brought the fever down and put him on blood thinners, but he still needs all our support. Hopefully he will be home back with his family soon.