Wednesday, December 9, 2009

5K Mel's pics!

Trust me when I say I have a whooooole bunch of pictures to share with you this week. I have my camera, and then I had Becky's camera. She actually went home and photoshopped a lot of her pics, so I can 't stand but to share them! I may have to get me an Olympus camera too! I used her camera during the 1/2 and full marathon, and it was pretty cool!

Anyhoo, here is how it goes down. I explained the Friday night events. Well, on Saturday morning, the 5k starts at 7:15am. So, we gather right near the start line and take our team picture. We meet at 6:50. And I think it was 27 degrees. Dude!

I like to take little group pics too. THis is a crew from Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier, LA, who have been very supportive along the way of Jake and of St. Jude! Kim, far left and in the orange, was one of my very best buddies in PT school. She is now one of the directors of the PTA program at BPCC. The others are students or recent graduates who have now joined the workforce. Oh, and the one if front is Jenny, Kim's daughter! Her first race! Yay for Jenny.
This is Charlene, Melissa, and Kim from Homer surrounded by the Unibombers.
Karl always leads us in prayer before we start any festivities.
Here he is praying for safety and giving thanks to God for little Jake's life and legacy.
TEAMJAKE 2009, less a lot of our marathoners/ 1/2 marathoners who wouldn't be leaving until 8:00 or later and who didn't want to be out in the freezing cold an hour early!
Heeeeeeyyy, it's KK Grimmer. Anyone recognize the name? She reads and comments on MoJoy! KK, is that a cat you are holding in your profile pic? I meant to ask you that.
These are our fearless leaders, Lori Ann and Karl Kaufman. They have been so committed to this race. They help raise money, organize the team, recruit new members, and overall help us remember and honor Jake and pour money into a great hospital so maybe some day there will be no such thing as pediatric cancer.
Here is a story for ya! Cyndi E and her FOUR kids (oh yeah, and her husband) drove down from MINNESOTA to the race!! This is their family vacation!
Are these cute kids or what? And so well behaved! I do NOT for the life of me know how people get their kids to be so well behaved. I swear, I try! I really do!
This is Cyndi's husband who also ran the 5k! Then, he piled his crew in the car, came and met us, and helped us cheer on the sidelines of the 1/2 marathon. They actually drove from Minnesota to Louisiana last year for Shake 4 Jake for their vacation. How cool is that? Think these kids are learning about compassion and even philanthropy!? So neat! Thanks, Eckhardts so much for supporting and loving our family. Hope you made it back safely!
There is G Dawg who ran in a purple and gold cape.
and this is a shot up the road of all the 5kers.
ANd hello there.
Looks like our Bossier crew is coming through!
Mr. McClure. He has also been instrumental year after year in raising money for our team. He is a big player in the garage sale! Say... did you beat your time again this year? He told me he gets a little faster on his 5K time every year that he gets a year older. Good for you!
Melissa. Put those hands down. You are going to faint!
This crazy person was RUNNING! Like in Forrest Gump.
"I wuz Runnnninng!"
Lori Ann has been training diligently for the 1/2 marathon. She had even run her 10 miler! Then, an injury set her back and she had to opt for the 5k with her daughter, BritniAnn. Hey, there's always next year!
This is Mrs. McClure. Mr. McClure's wife, duh! And Lori Ann's mom. Taking a leisurely little 3.2 mile stroll.
The other Homerians. With the Wonder BRead factory in the background. It just ain't right to make them walk past that! The smell.... ummmm.
KK! It's KK!
ANd it is KK in her TEAMJAKE shirt amongst a bunch of Laney Jo walkers. Thanks, KK!!
Poor lighting, but this is Dawn Pierce. We usually hang out a little , but this year, this is the only time I saw her! I heard, "Melanie Massey", and lo and behold it was Dawnipoo. Where was Todd, Dawn?!
Another St. Jude mom, Heather Buford, was sporting his cool tee. It says, "Brady has left the building. Thank you. Thank you very much."
and it shows a car leaving St. Jude. Brady is our neighbor to the north in Arkansas who is in remission. I mean, HEALED!

This accidentally got in here. It is the start of the 1/2 marathon, but I didn't mean to slip it in. I have yet even more 5K pics to share. Tomorrow!
If you havent' been to a race, you really should try to go to one. It is a whole different world! If you run, you would LOVE it. If you don't you would be totally inspired at this one! It even makes ME want to run! And that just ain't normal!
TEAMJAKE 2009! Such a great experience!
Mo

9 comments:

Renee said...

Too cool! And Brady's mom's shirt-priceless!

Kathryn said...

Hooray!

MLP said...

What an AMAZING experience for everyone involved!!! You guys ROCK!

I especially love the photo in the previous post of you with your tatoo (the photo shopped one). Such a cool pic!!!

KKGrimmer said...

Oh my goodness, I made THE BLOG!! I told you I felt like I was meeting celebrities, and I still do! I was overwhelmed by finally getting to meet all of ya'll in person! As for my race experience, I had been training for a few months and the week of...I got sick! But I was determined to keep on going just like Jake did so many times. I walked most of the race because the cold air killed my throat, but through the way I prayed for Jake's family. And I thanked Him for Jake and his family! I think we all in 'blog-land' are so thankful for you all. Like I've said before (many times) you are so inspiring! I'm planning to do the half marathon next year!
And heck no that's not a cat! It's my puppy, a chocolate Chihuahua!!
:)Christie

Kim said...

I had every intention of being there to cheer on all TeamJake Marathoner's this year....but a few family emergencies kept me home. Hopefully next year will be my year to be there!!

Keep those pictures coming!!

Smithville USA said...

thank you for posting these pics...now I know NOT to run when I get to you next year! LOL...I beat my time from last year and that is all I was tryin to do! Brandon beat all of us from Homer...we knew he would! Jake and Garrett came in behind him, then Zach, then me....bringing up the rear was Kimmy and Charlene! All the unibombers beat us girls! :-)

snekcip said...

Too cool!!! I agree w/KK GRIMMER meeting ALL you guys would be like meeting a celebrities!!! We ADORE your family that much! It's all due to that Special young man JAKE!! One day I'll get to meet you guys....one day!

Beth E. said...

This are the pics I always look forward to seeing...the runners! They truly give their all for the cause, don't they? I mean, I know everyone else involved gives there all, too. But...I can't run...at all. (I'd have two black eyes, for sure!) So, I guess I just admire them for their ability to do that...run...ya know what I'm trying to say? If you do, let ME know, okay? ;-)

Dawn said...

Hey Melanie. Thanks for posting that picture of me and my friend's daughter. I hate we didn't get spend any time with y'all this year, but we had people from out of town with us and we actually had a coporate sponsor this year and some of the company's employees were running the 5k as well.

Todd Pierce ran the half this year. He said he saw Staci and JinJin but never saw you.

Miss you guys and look forward to the Shake in June!