Hike, Run for Liberty

 

Race shirts came in and we loved how they came out! We had a lot more sponsors this year too.

 

 

Nicole took a shot of flare with my iphone. Both Flare and Spike have enjoyed hanging out with us on the back porch in the warmer weather.

 

 

We went hiking at a Hemlock Bluffs in Cary one morning this week.

 

A classic overnight southern thunderstorm had passed by early morning and it was absolutely beautiful!

 

We got there right as the park opened so were the first to hike the trails that day. Before we even really began I had the misfortune of walking through an enormous spider web. One of the park staff came out and thanked me for getting rid of the large web. You can imagine my feelings. From then on we appointed Michael the web-destroyer and gave him a big stick to take care of any that crossed his path.

 

Katy loved being out looking at everything. Her favorite part was when Jim raced the other kids while pushing her in the stroller. She was holding on for dear life, giggling and smiling as her little head bobbed along.

 

Diana and I brought up the end of the pack. She ran along at first but then told me "I walk." This was groundbreaking since she runs everywhere. It was a new experience to have her lagging behind and it was nice to enjoy walking with her. She kept consulting her map and refused to let anyone hold her water bottle.

 

 

Showing us a big leaf she caught.

 

 

Exploring a stream.

 

 

Flare eating breakfast of champions- dubia roaches.

 

The 3rd Run For Liberty that we put on each year for Jim's business was yesterday. We did better than last year as far as number of runners go despite pouring rain, lightening and thunder all the night before. The crazy storm ended around 5am and we were setting up before 6. The kids come that early with us too so it is a very long morning for everyone but so much fun.

 

 

We had the Koffords handing out 'candy floss' as they called it. It was a major hit with the kids and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know how much they consumed.

 

Jacob in heaven.

 

There were more kid runners this year as well, one even doing the 5k at an 8 minute mile pace! But they still wanted that cotton candy no matter how fast they were.

 

One of the best parts was that we had a lot more amputees out this year. I love getting to meet Jim's patients and I think they really enjoy coming.

 

We had a great crowd this year and a handful of sponsor tents. I feel like each year we doing a few more things right.

 

The kids found an incredible array of wildlife- including 2 foxes which were not afraid of them!- and carried their frogs and crickets around. The kids pointed out when we got home that they were kind enough not to bring any home this year (unlike last year!)

 

We had a boy scout troop post colors and a brass band play a few songs as well as the national anthem. It was pretty awesome.

 

Getting ready for the 1-Mile fun run! I ended up racing out to the half mile mark (with D and Katy) so the kids would know when to turn around. So my kids didn't run it which they didn't mind.

 

Start of the 1-Mile

 

Jim and an amputee got the idea they could play at the race, and one of his employees is good at guitar. He added one of the cajon drums he made and asked a new technician of his to play it (who had never played drums before). It all came together and sounded pretty good I thought. Jim loved that more than anything else, it was fun to see him enjoy himself. He sounded really, really good on his guitar solos!

 

 

Start of the 5k

 

We had an amputee walk the 5k which is not easy! When he was finishing everyone cheered him on and it was awesome to see!

 

Medal ceremony. This was the part we want to do a little better- we even forgot to take a group picture- but we had awesome prizes thanks to Brandon and I think overall it was a wonderful time for everyone.

 

Video Daniel took, this was while everyone was finishing the race. Daniel placed 4th in his age group which was awesome! I had an interesting time balancing keeping Katy with me, following Diana around, meeting patients/doctors/nurses Jim knows, and helping wherever I could. A crazy, fun time!