Kimberly running in the inaugural Dacula Dash

On Saturday March 24, 2012, Kimberly Smith did the Dacula Dash. She wrote about it on our Facebook wall, “I did everything wrong, lol. I didn't get to bed last night until after midnight, didn't get to sleep until after 2am! The alarm went off at 6:30 and I DID! NOT! want to get up. But I did. I drug myself downstairs and had my banana and 8oz of Spark energy and was out the door by 7:30.
I didn't have a particular goal in mind other than to do my best. I was secretly hoping for 40min, but was ok with just getting out there. I decided not to beat myself up over time and just have fun. I talked to kids who were running. I gave them high fives and told them they rocked. I got to the halfway point at under 20mins and felt great. Rounded the corner and headed back. When I got to just over 2miles, I got a wicked side stich. I tried to run through it, but it wasn't happening. I took a min to stop, breathe, and stretch my arms over my head, then started back running. I was doing good, and got to the intersection right in front of the finish line, and the cop stopped ME to let cars go by...Grrrrr!! Then he tried to "cheer" me on by saying "Come on, you're almost there" Yeah, I would have been there if you'd let me go...doofus. Got across the intersection and had a group of people sprint past me then stop and walk. Pet peeve of mine, BTW. So as we are heading to the finish, I was weaving past them.
All in all, not a bad run. It was the reset I needed.”

Kimberly came in at 41:40.

Congrats Kimberly and thank you for adding another state to the Run a 5k in 2012 goal.

Elaine clocks in at 34:36 for her first 5k !!!

On March 17th, Elaine headed out to Robious Elementary School in Virginia to start her very first 5k. The proceeds from this second annual 5k went to the Robious Elementary PTA.
She was sporting her pink St. Patrick's Day shirt and her bib.

When asked what was her favorite part of the race she said, "Running with others and having all the people on the sidelines cheering us on."
Sometimes as runners we forget how important the people that come out to watch us and cheer are such an important part of the race, but not Elaine. She brought her husband and then her kids joined in the last 1/4 mile of the run with her.

She said she wasn't nervous about the race, but coming in dead last. It kept her putting one foot in front of the other and she proved to herself that she could do it!

Her future plans include a 10k that she has signed up for in two weeks! Talk about keeping it going!!!

When asked about her future in running she said, "My goal is to continue on this journey I have started of making this a wonderful, active year full of new adventures and meeting new people!"

Congrats Elaine on your FIRST 5k of 2012 and good luck on your 10k! Please keep us posted on your journey!!

President's Day run!

Written by Amanda Simmons


On Feb 20. 2012 I laced up my Saucony running shoes, pulled on my dry fit Nike pro combat long sleeve and my Dryfit tee from the Rocklin run I did last year. I looked really cute. I knew I had to make sure that I looked good because my friend would surely ask me to take pictures. Then I dashed out the door and made my way to pick up my brother, whom I had some how talked into running/ walking a 10k with me. I didn't want to go alone. Not because I was nervous. I prefer to walk/run alone. But because I wanted to share this experience with him. I remember the gratifying feeling of finishing my first race last year (my first since High School).

The race was in Burlingame, California. My home town. We drove over to Coyote Point where the race was being held. There we were greeted by a big old guy in a Hawaiian shirt "Ya'll signed up?".

We got our bib numbers and tee shirts.
10 am.

Race time.

I turned to my brother and said "Are you ready?".

"Ready as I'll ever be" he replied. And with that, we were off. The course started with a hill to the top of the point. From up here you could see San Francisco, the airport, the Bay Bridge, and all the way down the San Francisco Bay to the Dumbarton Bridge.

Down the hill we jogged through the Coyote Point marina. It was a perfect day. Slightly cloudy, to keep you cool. But sunny enough to keep you motivated. Along the bay trail we walked and jogged. At the 5k mark we decided to push through and do the full 10k. But we needed to walk the rest of this. This was my brothers first race and I wanted him to have fun and finish. People kept passing us and my brother started to look discouraged. I turned to him and started jumping around like a little kid who had just been given way too much sugar and said "Who cares? We'll get there when we get there. All that matters is that we got there. You're doing great! Just keep your chin up, look at where you want to go. WooHoo.It's just one foot in front of the other. Don't look at me in that tone of voice... I can do this all day! Let's go! YaHoo!"
We kept going. Just one foot in front of the other.
Once we got back to the hill we knew we were almost done. I looked to my brother "Ok, this is it. Almost there. Remember to finish strong!". We were jogging down the last half of the hill when he turned to me, gave me a nod. "Go ahead" I said. He took off running. Much faster than I had anticipated. The boy wanted to race! I took off. As we both raced over the finish line "You may be younger and now taller than me, but I can still kick your butt!" I skreetched. Smiling and out of breath, we laughed.
Over comes the big guy in the Hawaiian shirt with a bunch of medals. He draped one over myself and the one over my brother. Then gave us each a big bear hug.
6.2 miles in 1:36:28 with an average speed of 3.9miles per hour. But times don't matter. I am so proud of my brother. We started. We finished. We did it. That's all that matters.

"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way". -Les Brown