#5 September 15, 2013   Children's Hospital Heart Institute

Because this Fifty 5K challenge has been going so well, I decided to "double up" this weekend and complete two 5Ks.  Today, I was joined by my daughter, Lauren, and together we walked a 5K at Voice of America Park in West Chester.  The sponsoring organization was Children's Hospital Heart Institute and they were raising money for summer camps for children.

I need to point out that my daughter is not a morning person.  She wanted to come with me, but was lured out of bed only by the promise of breakfast out after the walk.

The walk was an easy flat course, two times around the lake on a paved path.  Easy, peasey, lemon squeezy. 

The runners started first, followed by the walkers. One runner, took of like a shot and rapidly gained the lead.  We hung out near the end and meandered our way around.  About halfway through the first loop, we were lapped by the leader, a young woman.  I was tired just watching her.  Then we were lapped by the next runner.  And the next.  

I was starting to feel the effects of the walk from the day before. Sore feet, aching knees.  Maybe this "double up" wasn't a good idea after all.  Lauren was starting to fade.  We took our time at the water stops, finishing in just over an hour.  

Others kept running.  We had though that we were the final participants to cross the finish line, but we were wrong.  Several teams were doing a relay run.  Tagging in and out, each team member would run several laps, then swap places with another.  I inquired as to how long they were running.  

6 hours, was the reply.

I cannot make the stuff up.

For the remainder of the day, I would look at the time, and think to myself, "They are still running."

Wow.  Commitment.  Good for them.