Comments (16)

By kilax, May 30, 2009 5:08 pm

My neighbor and I ran the Hope for the Hungry 5K in (evil) Libertyville, Illinois today. I got an email about this race last week and asked my neighbor if he wanted to run it, because the proceeds directly go towards providing food and an education for children in Haiti, and he is from Haiti (plus, we had been running a bit together, and I thought he was ready for a 5K). Have you heard much about the hunger problem in Haiti? It’s something I’ve heard quite a bit about in the news. It’s estimated that 1 in 4 Haitians never get enough to eat, and are hungry all the time. The event organizer talked to us today about children who are so hungry they pass out in class or on the way to school. Many people resort to eating mud cakes.

This all makes me very very sad. I think about how I live in a nation where so many people OVEREAT and indulge, and how there are people all over the world struggling to get enough to eat to make it through the day. The politics of it all are way over my head. I wish there was a clear-cut solution. I know that today, I am reminded to be grateful for what I have.

On to something cheerier! I love how enthusiastic my neighbor is. He signed up for the race right away. Then the next day, we ran 5 miles together. We talked about the race a bit, and I think he was somewhat nervous. He asked if I thought he was ready. I think I responded with something like, “You just ran two miles more than a 5k! Of course you’re ready!” And he did really great today.

It was raining just a bit when we started, but as soon as we took off, the rain cleared!

Beautiful skies… not!!!

The course went through a the Old School Forest Preserve. The course was all crushed gravel and mostly wooded. It’s a fun course! When we ran it on Thursday we saw deer three times.

Can you find me?

I was being a bit pushy while we were running. I thought our plan was to run between 9:30-10:00 minute miles (like during our practice run) but once I saw how well my neighbor was doing, I didn’t let him slow down! I hope he wants to run with me again!

We ran just under 9:00 minute miles (splits at the bottom of the page), and sprinted the last part. I said, “Go Fritz go!” (Maybe it would have made more sense to just type his name from the beginning?) and he just took off!!! Then I was sprinting to keep up with him.

Our fast sprint to the finish line!

We finished in 26:36, which is actually a 5K PR for me because I haven’t run one in awhile!

Exhausted and sweaty!

Steven* was there the whole time, and Fritz’s wife came with their two kids and his brother! It’s so fun to see family at the finish line!

After the race, we talked to the Runner’s Edge (local running store) people about a 4-mile fun run they are hosting this Thursday and we had been thinking about doing. We met another runner who wants to do it, and she seemed really nice. That should be a fun way to meet new people!

Distance: 3.14 miles | Time: 26:36 | 1: 8:30 | 2: 8:42 | 3: 8:32 | 4: 0:51

UGH, It took me FOREVER to write this, because Firefox kept typing all of my words backwards. I restarted it a few times then finally uninstalled and reinstalled. HOW FRUSTRATING!!!

*Wondering why Steven didn’t run? He’s been having a hip problem since the half marathon, and has been taking it easy (the smart thing to do). I MISS running with him though.