Many 5K races (& 10K races) help benefit local charities, organizations or other community supporters. For example, the 10K that I participated in a few months beforehand, benefited the Ronald McDonald House.
My family, Jennifer and I drove to Ohio to visit my family during Thanksgiving of 2009. While we were there, my Uncle, Aunt, Jennifer and I (pictured below) registered for a local 5K race on Thanksgiving Day, sponsored by the Perry Township Rotary. It was a COLD morning—at least for us warm-blooded Floridians. Not accustomed to such conditions, we braved the elements and ran the streets of Canton before heading home to enjoy our traditional Thanksgiving feast.
The race took place early morning—so while we were running (in the frigid weather), I began to notice a distinct smell in the air. It was the smell of turkeys being cooked from several of the homes. As I gazed up from my stride, I noticed people sitting on their front porch, bundled up, sipping hot coffee, reading the paper and enjoying the crisp morning as their turkey was cooking inside.
My Uncle and I exchanged looks and started to chuckle. He said to me “Two more miles of running and we will be able to go home and enjoy our Thanksgiving meal knowing we ran 3.1 miles and they didn’t.” God I love this sport.
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| Aunt Tamara (with baby Riley), Uncle Stuart, Jenn, and I |
