Otter Pop Run!

Amanda -RA5K2012 co-admin runs in a 5k!

On May 20 at 7am I was still very sleepy but on my way to The Otter Pop 5k run in Menlo Park. This was my 3rd race of the year, and the shortest distance of the year. The race didn't start until 8:30 but I had to get there early to set up and warm-up. You see, this wasn't just a normal fun run. But rather, work. My employer is one of the main sponsors of the event. I was there to work, and run. 
I did everything wrong getting ready for this event. I stayed out late night before, had a drink or two. So I didn't get any sleep. I ate heavier foods, I even had a fresh canoli. I didn't pre-hydrate the night before. I only ran twice in the two weeks leading up to the event. I barely stretched. I did everything wrong. But still, I had to do it.
Race Time.
The "serious" runners were moved to the front of the line. The little kids that wanted to run were asked to get behind these people so the wouldn't get run over.
Ready, set, Go! 
And we were off. I started out really strong( and way too fast). But I wanted to stay with the majority of the pack and not get run over. Slowly, I down shifted into a more comfortable pace. By almost the half way mark I was to a fast walk. I had started out too fast. But at the half way point and on to the second loop  I shifted to a mid-slow jog. And kept a reasonable pace throughout the rest of the run. Quite a few of the children did the second lap to complete the 5k. One younger boy( he must have been about 7or 8), just kept plodding away. You could tell he was tired, but he wanted to finish. And he crossed that finish line 5 seconds before me. Some how, I managed to finish. I was pretty tired, but I finished.
As soon as I crossed over the line I ran straight to our stand and started handing out Otter Pops. I will admit, I ate 4 in the process of passing them out. I had to test the quality of the product. *wink 
I received 3rd place for my age group (female 19-29). I also set a PR of 33:04 for 3.2 Miles. It was a good day and a great race. I didn't plan it right, or stick to what I had drilled into my brain. But, sometimes, that's ok. And next time will be even better. I'm already looking forward to next years race. And, of course, the Otter Pops
-Amanda L. S. 

Brooks Running Dig Deep Laces, originally uploaded by Random and Odd.

I am so excited to announce that the hard work I have put into Run a 5k in 2012 is finally paying off.
It’s May and I have almost already reached my goal.
Brooks Running donated DIG DEEP shoelaces and I put together a Giveaway for our group on Facebook and then began reaching out to other companies around the US.
We now have 4 other companies willing to help us out with products for future giveaways!

Please join Run A 5k in 2012 and help our group grow and motivate others!

I’d never run in my life. Why would I start now?

When I first joined the “Run a 5K in 2012” page earlier this year, I thought “What
in the world???”. I mean, I’d never run in my life. Why would I start now?
A co-worker of mine asked if I wanted to run the Color Run in San Francisco later
in the summer and I decided that might be fun. But that would mean I actually
had to be ready to run a 5K. A 5K??? Seriously? That seemed like an awful long
way. I highly doubted I’d ever be able to accomplish that.
So I started to run. Not too far at first. But each time it became easier. At that
point, I didn’t even know how many miles a 5K was. After one of my runs, I came
home and checked it out on an online conversion chart and was shocked to find
that I’d just run a 5K. Woohoo! I didn’t even realize that the loop I was running
through my neighborhood was 3.25 miles. Perfect!
“Run a 5K in 2012” continued to post encouraging messages, not only to me,
but to their other members as well. On days where I might not have felt quite like
running, I’d see a post that would encourage me to get up off my butt and run. Of
course, after my run I’d always feel so much better.
I ran my first 5K on April 15 and it felt AWESOME! I’m signed up for 3 more this
year and am planning to add a few more to my calendar.
Now I look forward to posting my results and seeing the feedback. It makes me
want to do better. I might not be anywhere close to running anything other than
a 5K, but I love knowing that I have an entire support team in “RA5Kin2012-land”
and always look forward to the responses.

I did it!
I woke up this morning with minor ankle pain.  We got up to Cool to start our run and I had taped up my ankle and was thinking about how my calf on the other leg might get blown again for trying to baby the ankle on the other foot.

The run started and my boyfriend and I were together for about a half mile before I got stuck on the single track behind some walkers. There was no getting around them, so I just hung back and listened to them complain on how hot, dusty and muddy this run was.  HELLO, it was TRAIL RUN!
I got a chance to get around them and tried to catch up with Lester, but he was over the hill already.

Further in on the trail I came across a group of people who were training for a half marathon and thought this would be a good ‘warm up’ for them.  I’ve never heard more complaining.  ”This terrain is so weird, I can’t run. It’s like it couldn’t make up it’s mind if it wants to be uphill or downhill. Was that a snake?”  At one point I had to giggle.  The one woman heard me and she giggled back, “I’m complaining a lot huh?”  I told her, “it’s usually me that is doing the complaining, but since this is all I do…I don’t know any better.”  Then for the next half mile I heard all about the joys of street running and how it’s usually flat with just minor ups and downs.  It was about then we opened up to the most beautiful meadow.  ”But do you get to see THIS?”   I wanted to spin around and spout out the joys of trail running, but if you couldn’t see it while you were running through it, there was no use in trying.
“Yeah. It is.” She agreed and then her and her friend were left behind as I listened to them try to figure out how to maneuver through a big mud patch.
Up ahead was my ‘pacer’. She was appointed the job when I noticed her slow stride.  ”HI!” I said as I caught up with her.  She had to be sixty something and she was past running and just power walking up a hill.  We got to talking and she told me she had fell down one of the hills that I have run many times.  She has busted something in her hip and was still recovering.   As we neared the creek, she plowed through it like a trooper and I let the icy water cool my feet as I helped some runners that were trying to make their way across the slippery rocks before they took on Knickerbocker climb.

During the middle of the climb I met another woman. I said, “Jezzus. I have to quit smoking!” and she, straight faced said, “I have to quit smoking crack!”  She asked me if I had done this before and I told her that yes, I had and it was almost over, I mean…after you get up this bitch, around the corner and up the last bit.  She groaned and tried to catch up with her friend.

Finally I was alone and could find my stride. The sun was about 5 miles from the earth and my arms felt like I had stuck them to the tail pipe of a motorcycle.  The aid station was up ahead and I drowned myself in two cups of water and started down a hill into another meadow.  At one point a giant butterfly came and tagged me in the head.  ”WELL HELLO MISTER BUTTERFLY!” I yelled out and thanked him for reminding me why I was so happy to running.

My watch told me that it had lost GPS satelites and I didn’t even care, I knew the end was near and that meant I could finally go pee.

Cresting the hill I could see Lester’s bright yellow shirt at the finish line and I was all smiles as I rounded the corner, high fived the volunteer and crossed over into his waiting arms where he gave me a huge hug and kiss!
Best Finish so far!
He was there for me during the Resolution Run, but when I crossed the finish line the only thing I could think of was finding a first aid station for my blown calf.
This time, I said, “I FELT GREAT! NO PAIN AT ALL!! That was SO MUCH FUN!”  I could still feel him breathing hard so I know he wasn’t too far ahead of me and I was was so proud of him I almost cried.
We found a fellow runner and got our picture taken at the finish line.  I am all smiles because it was the perfect run for me!

"Just a little further", and anything is possible." RA5K2012

"My friend...
She did a short film montage of the year that was coming to pass. In it, was a bit on how she ran her first 5k. Somehow, she had convinced me to run with her. This was my first race since High School. She had motivated me into running the race. I decided to motivate her to finish it.
"Just a little further" I kept saying.
We finished.
She inspires me. 
She started a page. Run. Who the heck wants to run? I was suprised to find out, that I do. And I want other people to join us. Run. Keep moving. Keep motivated. Keep positive. 
I finished my first half marathon, just a year after that race. I set a goal, she kept me positive and focused. I made another friend join me. 
"Just a little further" I kept saying.
We finished that race. 
My friend says I am an inspiration. But it is She that inspires me. We keep each other motivated. We pick each other back up when we are down. We give each other a hard time for slacking off. Praise, for when we do good. We are inspiration, for we have been inspired. 
"Just a little further", and anything is possible."

Where do I start! RA5Kin2012

"How has RA5Kin2012 motivated me?  Where do I start! I can tell you it started before it was created. I stumbled across a blog one day and was instantly captivated by this person.  I laughed, I cried, I got really ticked off but mostly I cheered for her.  Never did I let her know I was there stalking her blog.  Hee hee.  Well in 2011 my life went downhill and fast.  I wanted to hide from everything and everyone.  But while I was retreating into myself, this amazing woman was grabbing life by the horns and experiencing everything she possibly could.  I wanted that.  I would be 40 soon and wanted a change.  I finally made myself known and hit her up on facebook and then RA5kin2012 was created.  I though why the hell not and signed up for a 10k and started to train.  I read about everyone else finishing their races and finally the time came for me to run.  I ran that 10k and came 4 minutes under my goal time.  I had never run before in my life prior to January and I am still running to this day.  I post my training runs and RA5k always has an encouraging word.  Next week I am going to sign up for my 1^st Half-Marathon.
All of this because someone had the courage to start her journey and share all her ups and downs with the rest of us!  Thanks RA5k!"

For me, running clears my mind!

"I started running before finding Run a 5k in 2012, but the motivation to run, and the motivation to run with RA5kin2012 is one and the same.

For me, running clears my mind, keeps me sane and grounded, and sometimes is even a way to let me get all my emotions out at once.  I like to think about why I'm running. If it's a run with Team in Training, I think about my nephew and that usually motivates me to push through. I started with TNT in 2010 because of my nephew.  Our family and friends had done small events with American Cancer Society and LLS for years prior (Relay for Life and Light the Night Walk).  You see, my nephew CJ was diagnosed with leukemia when he was just 2 years old. After a long and painful journey filled with the lows of constant hospitalization and the highs of going into remission after a bone marrow transplant, he relapsed and lost his battle to the disease at the age of 3.5.  Every run is for him.  I found RA5kin2012 when I was at my lowest emotionally.  He passed away in 2002 and 2012 marks his 10 year anniversary.  I knew it was going to be a really rough year for me. After seeing the RA5kin2012 website and all of the amazing people getting off the couch to be active, I knew I'd get through it.  My strength gets even stronger after reading everyone elses story for 2012.

Thank you for creating this group.  You really have no idea the impact you can make with a gesture that seems so simple at the time."

BROOKS Dig Deep Shoelace Giveaway!

Thanks to @BrooksRunning I am able to provide our very first "Give Away"
I'm super excited about this and because it's our first give away on RA5K2012 I'm going to make it easy.

I asked our FACEBOOK GROUP to send me an email with a story on how Run A 5k in 2012 has had an impact in their day, their run and how has it motivated you.  It's an easy one for the first time because I am new at all of this and learning as I go.
My goal is to have other companies reach out and say, "Hey, I have a hat or shirt or swag bag from our company, let's do a give away!"  and ultimately it will provide the people who are inspired by RA5K2012 to keep coming by and HOPEFULLY (my biggest goal of all) is to have them inspire others to get out there and move and sign up.

In the next few days I will be uploading the first set of emailed stories for you all to read.

I strongly encourage you to visit the companies that do send us stuff for giveaways and let them know that RA5K2012 sent you!

Again, HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to @brooksrunning for the DIG DEEP shoelaces for our very first giveaway!

Please feel free to email me at RunAFivek@gmail.com for any questions.

If you're interesting in sponsoring a giveaway on our blog or knows someone that does, contact me at RunAFivek@gmail.com and let me know.

Stay tuned for the stories to come on how we were motivated!!