day 16. Strange

This morning I ran the Komen Mid-Missouri Race for the Cure 5K. This was the third year the race has been held in Columbia, and I have been there every year.

So what does this have to do with the photo a day prompt "strange?" Breast cancer unfortunately touches many lives, and as a result, there were some very passionate people there today. And a few in strange yet very festive costumes!

The race began at 8:30 am, so I arrived at around 8:10 am. The course began right outside Faurot Field. Funny thing... a few tailgaters from the night before were just leaving as I was getting there this morning. Yeah, it was a short night for me too.

I found my co-worker, Michael, who was also a timed runner. We chatted for a while at the starting line. He's much faster than me, so I let him go on ahead.... The course took us through campus and part of downtown. It was actually not a bad course at all. There was a fairly steep hill that I walked near the end, but other than that I did pretty well. The finish line was on Faurot Field. I gave Truman a high five when I crossed. My iPod said my time was 32.35. The official results were not made available yet at the time of this post.

finish line

It was a great day to honor our friends and remember those no longer with us. I ran in honor of my friend and co-worker, Alison, and in memory of my long-time hairdresser, Laura, who died last December. Running today was an extremely small sacrifice considering what these ladies went through. I was proud to be a part of it.