On Tuesday, December 13th, a group of Stroller Warriors got together to run Kimi's Make-Up Half Marathon. Earlier in the week, she posted her intentions on our Facebook page, asking for suggested run routes. Her post was met with overwhelming support and people offering to run various distances with her. Kimi's goal was to run the half in under 2 hours in the same year as the birth of her second daughter. And yes, she always looks this happy...even before running 13 miles!
This motley crew gathered at 9 am to start the run. We even had some club members volunteer to stay back at the house and watch the kiddos! We took off at varying paces on the first of three loops. The first group averaged about an 8:45 pace for the first 4 miles. As we passed the house, a few ladies headed for their cars and the rest of us continued on the second loop. Our pace slowed to about a 9:07 mile, but our spirits were high and we chatted the entire time. Because of the course, we got to pass some of the other ladies and that was a great source of motivation.
As we made the turn around and headed for our last leg of the course, our Stroller Warrior leader joined us with her son in tow. It really boosted morale to have some new blood coming along. About 2 miles out, Kimi put her headphones in and our pace dropped back to 8:45ish. She was determined to finish under 2. We turned toward her house and she picked up the pace even more.
Coming toward the finish line
Kimi's reaction to finding out we actually did 13.25 instead of 13.1!
She finished the actual half marathon distance in 1:58:47! And we made it to the finish line in 1:59:58...talk about cutting it close! We had one other girl run the entire distance, and she did awesome!
Our most fashionable runner, Nicole, finishing strong!
Nicole gets a congratulatory hug from her youngest son!
This club is so incredible that Stephanie (the group leader) had a medal made and inscribed for Kimi:
And of course, a shout out to my little running buddy, Reagan, who rode the entire 2 hours in the stroller with minimal complaint. Only made me stop twice for snack/drink breaks:)
