An Undeserving Honor

This past Saturday was a very special day in my life, and one that won't soon be forgotten.  My sweet friend Mitzi traveled all the way from Tallahassee to Nashville to run a half marathon in my honor. This particular race was to benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, which is an organization very near and dear to my heart.  As you may know, over 700,000 Americans (including myself) suffer from Crohn's Disease, for which there is currently no cure.  Every penny raised towards finding a cure  for this awful disease is money well spent in my opinion!   Mitzi is a talented, passionate and avid runner and I admire her dedication to the sport.  She even has a running blog where she shares her running experiences and encourages others with scripture as it relates to running in the race of life.  As someone who is not cut out to be a runner, I stand in awe of her ability to use running as her ministry to witness to others.  

Back in June and prior to my surgery, Mitzi posted her plans to run the Nashville half marathon on her blog and I was so incredibly humbled when I read her sweet words and realized that she would be running on my behalf.  Nobody has ever done anything like this for me and I knew that no matter what it took, I would be there at the finish line to cheer her on.  I had no idea what stage of recovery I would be in by that point, but I knew that I had to be there!  You can read her heartfelt post where she describes how this all came about HERE.  It's so neat to read about how it was all laid out before her---such a God thing!!

Mitzi has been training HARD for this race for many months (in the dead of summer in FLORIDA, might I add!!) and I've enjoyed following her progress and watching as she set goals along the way for herself.  This past Friday, Mitzi and two of her running buddies traveled to Nashville for Saturday's race.  Matthew and I made arrangements for Kyndall to stay with Mrs. Pam and Mr. Jeremy Woods on Friday night so that he and I could get up at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and head to Nashville.  If you know me at all, you know that I am NOT a morning girl!!!  I don't truly come alive until at least 9:30 each morning so this was a big stretch for me!  But, I wouldn't miss it for the world!!  

The race began and ended at the Country Music Hall of Fame in the heart of downtown Nashville.  The course spanned 13.1 miles and took the runners all over the city, including around the campus of my beloved Vanderbilt, where I spend much of my time these days.

  Mitzi posted a few pictures of herself earlier that morning on Facebook, so I memorized her race number and took a mental picture of what she was wearing.  There were over 3,000 runners and I knew they would all start looking alike after a while!  I wanted to be ready to hoop, hollar, cheer and take pictures as she crossed the finish line.  Just as she had promised in her blog post, she wore my favorite color combination of hot pink and lime green, which made it very easy for me to spot her!  

The race started at 7:00 a.m. and Mitzi's goal was to finish under 2.5 hours, so Matthew and I knew exactly what time we needed to be there.  

Sleepy, but EXCITED!!!

We ended up arriving super early and we even got the see the first, second and third place runners cross the finish line!!  I must say, I was super impressed!!  However, as each of these ladies crossed that line, they all immediately did the same thing......they bent over and started PUKING and were quickly rushed to the medic station!  Uggggh!  Just as I was feeling somewhat inspired to possibly take up running, this quickly changed my mind.  Noooo thank ya!

My sweet husband, who graciously sacrificed his Saturday to chauffeur me around Nashville!  He's a keeper!

I've always said....."If you see me running, you better be running too.....because it means someone is trying to kill me!!"  It's just not in the cards for me to be a runner.  Or an athlete of any kind, really.  Had I attempted something like this, here's where you would've found me, with the lovely ladies of Vanderbilt EMS!!

As the time neared Mitzi's goal time, I slowly snuck my way closer and closer to the finish line and got my camera ready to capture that pink and green flash as it would soon fly past me!  =)

I've never understood the whole running craze, but I have to say, I was very inspired by what I saw on Saturday.  Women of all ages, shapes, colors and sizes crossed that finish line with a look of pride and accomplishment on their faces that I cannot even explain. It must be a great feeling to know you've just tackled such an amazing feat!  It almost made me sign up for the next race myself.....almost!  (Then I remembered those puking girls--ha!)  But truly, it's an infectious atmosphere of excitement and comradery that you really can't explain until you've experienced it!

Being so close to the finish line, I was able to witness many special moments, such as this one shared by a mother and daughter as they crossed the line together, hand in hand.  SO SWEET!  I also saw a lady carrying her dog under her arm, and many bride/bridesmaid groups!  How fun!!

I was particularly impacted by the many shirts and running bibs I saw with things such as "In honor of...." and sadly, even "In memory of....." inscribed on the back.  Obviously, Crohn's and Colitis knows no boundaries and it affects many, many people.  I was even moved to tears as I saw several runners cross the finish line and immediately break down in tears as they embraced their loved ones whom they were running in honor of.  My prayer is that someday, there will no longer be a need for these tears of sadness or even for this race, because someday there WILL be a cure!!

Just as I was getting all sappy and emotional, I spotted what I thought was my girl Mitzi coming in towards the finish line......

As she got closer, I heard them call her name and I saw #4181 and knew for sure that it was her!!!

Look at that smile!!!!!!!!!!!!  And look at that time!!!  Way under her goal of 2:30!!!!

I screamed and yelled like a crazy woman and then ran down past the barriers to find her.  I couldn't wait to hug her neck and tell her how proud I was of her!!!!

I didn't know this until after the race, but Mitzi and her running partners wore these monogrammed patches with my initials on them throughout the race as a way to honor me.  They each hugged my neck and then gave me their patches.  I now have three beautiful and meaningful monograms that I can use on anything I want!  =)

So proud of these ladies!!!

 Something else that they told me after the race was that together, their team raised $5,000 for the CCFA in my honor!!!!!  I almost didn't know what to say when Mitzi told me this.  WOW.  I am so incredibly humbled by this and so eternally thankful for the generosity of those who donated!!

I am so proud to call this sweet lady my friend and my sister in Christ!  She's such an inspiration to me!

I can't wait to put these to use!  I'm thinking a cute new hat for one of them, but still considering possibilities for the other two.  Whatever they become, I know that each time I look at them I will remember the loving sacrifice that was made on my behalf and I will be inspired, encouraged and uplifted in remembering this very special day!!  

I spent a while visiting with Mitzi and her friends and then I sent them off to celebrate with the other runners and enjoy Nashville!  Their hard work was over....now it was time to have some fun!  Matthew and I headed to Opry Mills to enjoy a kid-free lunch and some shopping at the outlets.  

While we were having lunch, I received these pictures from Pam, showing off Kyndall's new mani/pedi that Pam did herself!!!! Oh, the patience this must have taken!!!

Thank you, Pam and Jeremy for taking such good care of Kyndall so that Matthew and I could enjoy this very special day!

And a BIG thank you to Mitzi, Shannon and Allison for their hard work and for honoring me in such a special way!  I will never forget this!!!