joplin memorial run

So back in February, my dad invited Jason and I to run the Joplin Memorial's Marathon Relay race.  We thought it sounded like a fun idea!  The marathon were broken up into 5 legs.  We decided that Dad would run two of the legs, and Amelia, Jason and I would run the other four.  When given the choice, Jason chose to run the 10k length because he couldn't let me run further than him.  I was the lucky one running a 5k!

I had great plans of getting down to a 7:30 pace, but that didn't quite happen.  It ended up being a good thing that I only ran the 5k, because I hurt my neck the week before the race and didn't get to run for a week!

However, race day was nice and cool, a little too cool while standing and waiting, but perfect for running!  We met up with Dad and Amelia at 6:00 am to get set and watch Dad take off and run the first two legs (a 10k and 5k).

 They had shuttles that took us to our points on the course.  Dad reached Amelia at 7:48 am and Amelia took off for her hilly 12K run headed west out of town.  She blasted through all the hills and rocked her leg with a 8:00 pace!!  Jason took over from there with his 10K leg of the race.  I was so proud seeing him run over that last hill and as I got to take the chip from him to finish off the race.  I had lots of stored up energy watching all those runners pass and my adrenaline must have kicked in.  I was able to finish my leg in just over 24 minutes with a 7:45 pace!  We took 5th overall and 4th in our co-ed division!

And we had the greatest cheering section!