Boston...

Speechless...

How Many People Did He Pass? Team TLT4C Fundraiser Recap...



I told you guys last week about a fun fundraiser I was doing at the Gulf Coast Half Marathon for my Little Things For Cancer charity.

My awesome friend Ali agreed to start last in the half marathon and for every person he passed in the race, I had a couple of sponsors donating money. So my question to you guys is how many people do you think he passed?

Here is how the race went...

We arrived in Pensacola Beach around 5:30 in the morning. YAWN! We caught up with the amazing Diane and she had our race packets ready. Then I found one of my favorite race directors, Mike! Mike and his team run The Gulf Coast Half Series, Womans Half Marathon, and the Huey P. Long Bridge Run (more about that later). They are awesome and allowed us to use the Pensacola Gulf Coast Half for the charity run.

Ali, me, and Mike at the start line.

After the National Anthem and the start of the race, Ali lined up at the start. I have not watched a bunch of races from the sidelines and I guess I never knew that there were so many people lagging behind. LOL! Ali had to wait for a few people in the chute to finally decide to start. It was fun to watch...

At around 7:05, he was off and running



1 hour 31 minutes  later Ali cam across the finish line raising close to $400 for The Little Things For Cancer. 

So how many people did he pass?

He came in 23rd out of 1,442 runners.

So he passed 1,419 people

Crazy Awesome!

The Gulf Coast Half is a great race to run on the beautiful beaches of Pensacola Beach. I thought I would show you guys the amazing medals that you get for finishing the half...



You cant go wrong with a bottle opening race medal. Most useful race medal ever.

I want to thank Ali for running the race for Team TLT4C. It was an amazing time. I also want to thank all the great people at the Gulf Coast Half for allowing us to use their race for raising funds for Team TLT4C.

If you would like to donate to my fundraising for the Marine Corp Marathon, you still can.

Go to my FUNDRAISING page and donate, every $1 counts.

You can also go to my Spreadshirt store and buy one of my super cool shirts. I would love a picture if you get one:) 



I'll even take cheesy bathroom pics like mine:)

 

Your Turn: Did you race for a cause this weekend?

Zombie Warfare, Say What? Zombie Run Recap!

On Saturday, I was invited to run the Zombie Run in Gulfport MS, supporting the SMILE TRAIN charity, with some of my Gulf Coast Blogger friends. Melanie, Mindy, Holly, Gina, and Heather (not pictured) went zombified!



We arrived around 8:30 to check in and get our make up done. The check in process was fairly easy. However it was a little bit disorganized. Anyways we found our way to the make up tent. They had a ton of makeup artist on hand to make us nasty and zombie-like! 



Our makeup artist was awesome she did our makeup in like 5 minutes and then told us she had only learned how to do it 30 minutes prior. This was when I was named lifeguard zombie, lol!

Mindy and I getting our zombie on. Did you know that Zombies use I phones? Yeah watch out when they come to end the world, they can GPS and find you:)



After getting our make up done we practiced our Zombie stare! What ya think?



After getting our make up done they marched us up to our Zombie spot. We were put out in this huge field and told that we were going to get shot at with Nerf arrows. HUH?





In classic Zombie Fashion we had to have a little lunch before we were pelted with Nerf arrows.

Then the fun started the runners had to come out on the field and grab 2 of the arrows, this is when we could go and grab their flags. Talk about a workout. It was awesome.

Then after they grabbed the 2 arrows they had to climb up on a big railroad cart and grab a bow and try to shoot us. IF they shot one of the zombies they earned a flag back. Trust me we didn't let that happen too often.



I love it when people actually have fun with the race. I loved her shirt! It says WINNER, WINNER, NOT YO DINNER! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!



Holly and I teamed up with these two super cool Zombies for some flag pulling fun. After three hours of nothing but sprints and all out Zombie warfare we had it down to a tee. Can you say Zombie dream team?





We got to meet some great people being Zombies. If you like competitive fun. This race is perfect for you. 

Our newest Zombie friends. We had a great time  with these guys. Cloud Pajama boy was awesome! I think he was used for target shooting the whole day.

After our Zombie shift was over we met up with Heather, who's husband did the Traditions Triathlon earlier in the day. (Congrats Bobby)!

 

She looked so clean next to us. Mindy and I were exhausted after three hours of Runner chasing and had to rest up for the Gulf Coast Half on Sunday, we opted out of running the course. Gina stayed and ran the course with Heather.

We had to take a little bite out of Heather before heading home.

This was an overall fun time. I am not one to do theme races more than once. I will definitely be doing this race again. Probably as a runner, I want to have that opportunity. The great people at The Zombie Run had awesome medals.

Red (Survivor Medals) for the runners.

And black (Infected) medals for the Zombies.

I loved the medals and the tech shirts were amazing.

The after party was help inside the Fair grounds. They had free beer, however you had to pay for food, which I thought was strange because most everyone had just run 3+ miles. They should have had something for the runners to eat. The Shed BBQ was there selling food, so I am sure that it was delicious. The music was great.

My overall opinion of the race was that if you are looking for a really fun time with your friends and have a little competitive nature, you will love the Zombie Run. It was a little disorganized and the food thing was weird, but overall we had a blast and I would definitely do it again.

Check out where the Zombie Run will be infecting next.

 

 

 

Team TLT4C...How many people do you think he will pass?

Hey guys!

Just wanted to tell you guys about a really fun thing I am doing on Sunday to raise money for The Little Things For Cancer charity.

On Sunday I will be running the Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Pensacola Beach. If you haven't heard of this race, your missing out. It is put on by some of the coolest guys and has some of the best medals around. Can we say "beer openers" SCORE!
Anyways my awesome friend Ali has agreed to help me raise some money for my Marine Corp Marathon Charity The Little Things For Cancer. He has agreed to start dead last in the race and pass as many people as he can in the half marathon. CRAZY I know! LOL!
This is Ali and yes he is super fast. He finished 70 something out of 17,000+ last weekend at the Crescent City Classic. See F.A.S.T.!

He's pretty freaking cool and hes from London so he must be even cooler! Hes also my "race wife" Melanies husband. LOVE THEM!
So your probably wondering how this is going to raise funds?
I have always thought it was pretty stinkin' cool that TIMEX sponsors a celebrity every year for the New York City Marathon to start dead last in the race, and they donate $1 for every person they pass in the race to the NYRR Youth Association. So I thought I would do something like this to raise money for the TLT4C. Easy right?
Yep, I have some great people that are more than willing to donate money to a great cause esp when the great sport of running is behind it. And an awesome race series willing to help us out. So I have made a pledge page for people/businesses to make a donation to the TLT4C.

If you would like to make a pledge/donation to the TLT4C before the race on Sunday, please email me at [email protected] or go to my donation page and donate there too!

You can make a donation per person he passes, (i.e. $.25 per person he passes, up to $50) or you can make a one time donation for him running.

Every $1 helps, THANK YOU!

Don't forget you can still order one of my 0to26point2 t-shirts. A portion of each shirt goes towards the TLT4C.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER!

 I will have a full recap of the race results and how much money we raised on Monday morning.

 

Thankful Things Thursday

I hope everyone has had a great week. I know I have been extra busy this week. We are in the process of possibly buying a new house, and as most of you know, they make you jump through hoops! Its ridiculous! Anyways I thought I would bring you another THANKFUL THINGS THURSDAY, here it goes...

1. I am THANKFUL that I decided to give the Paleo diet a try. I hate calling it a diet, it has been more of a lifestyle change. I finished my 40 day 100%Paleo challenge last week and started introducing things like cheese and rice back in. BAD IDEA! LOL! I learned my lesson trust me, I have felt like total crap this week. My energy level is low, I feel bloated. Now I am not downing rice eaters or cheese lovers, but as much as I missed them during the challenge, they are definitely not for me anymore. So as of yesterday I am back pretty much 100% Paleo. It works for me:)

2. I am THANKFUL that Katie has started a new company called BAMRbands and makes these super cute non slip hair bands. Yeah I have one of those weird flat heads, so NOTHING stays. However the BAMR passed the slip test. It made it through CrossFit and speed work without slipping. This one has really cute owls on it and my daughter wont leave it alone!



3. I am THANKFUL that Maxwell Health has come with this great plan to reward people for their good health. Yep that's right. It simple you put in the workouts and they reward you. Check them out at Maxwell Health. I will have a full review up on Monday. You will not want to miss it, trust me!

 

4. I am THANKFUL that I am able to run fun races with my fellow Gulf Coast Bloggers Heather, Mindy, Gina, Jennifer, Holly, Shannon, and Stefanie. We will be transforming into Zombies for the Zombie Run In Gulfport MS on Saturday. If your going to be there, let us know. We would love to meet you.

 

5. I am THANKFUL that I live close to the beach so that I can run AMAZING races right on the beach. Sunday I will be running the awesome Gulf Coast Half Marathon on Pensacola Beach. Its going to be a gorgeous day and I cannot wait to run it. Again if you are going to be there come say hey:)

 

Your turn, what are you THANKFUL for today?

 

 

 

35th Annual Crescent City Classic 10k recap

On Saturday morning me and 17,000+ of my closest friends lined the streets of New Orleans for the 35th Annual Allstate SugarBowl Crescent City Classic 10k. This is first year I have ran this race and it quickly became one of my favorite races. You guys know I travel a lot for races and have my favorites. As of this weekend The Crescent City ranks among my top favorite. 

On Friday Shannon and I drove in early to work at the Gulf Coast Half/Womans Half booth at the CCC expo at the Hyatt. All I can say is WOW, this expo was huge and had guest speakers. I had the pleasure of listening to my pal Bart Yasso speak. As the Chief Running Officer at Runners World Magazine, he always gives the best advice to experienced and new runners.

If your wanting to come to the beach next weekend, you can catch Mindy and I at the Gulf Coast Half in Pensacola Beach. If you are looking for a great half/10k at the end of the year, check out The Womans 10k/Half in Baton Rouge on December 8th. 

We have some of the best times at the expos. Mindy and I representing some of our favorite runners Dorothy and EMZ! Love both of them, they are huge inspirations to me.

Saturday morning we woke up around 6, got dressed and walked to the start line around 7. I knew there would be a lot of runners, but it was crazy. They did have corrals this year. I couldn't imagine the previous years without them. It was very easy to find our corral and take a few pics before the start.

Melanie, Shannon, and I ready to run. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining. Perfect weather for a spring race.

I also met up with Heather and her husband in Champions Circle to give them their numbers. Its awesome getting to meet up with fellow FFA and SPA's esp my Gulf Coast H&F bloggers. Heather and I will be running the Zombie Run next Saturday in Gulfport. I hope to see some of you guys there.

And yes she looks super cute in her pink and bunny ears. I'm always in black, I need some color! LOL

At about 8:15 they started the race. It was a late start because there were runners still on the buses trying to get to the start from City Park. I had put myself in the 1:10-1:15 group based on my PR of 1:06. I figured if I ran faster I would PR, but I wouldn't be too far out of my comfort zone. I have not run much since my marathon, so I was just going in to the CCC with a comfortable pace. That may have been a bad idea. Shannon and I had to zigzag through so many people we actually ended up running 6.6 miles instead of the 6.2 course. Next time I will put myself in a faster corral to bypass the walkers. My final time was 1:11:34, like I said it was wall to wall walkers, we had to weave through everyone. Not that I am complaining, however FYI if you do walk a lot of the race, please stay towards the back. It makes things a lot easier on the runners. I will say the course was great, it ran right through the French Quarters past Café Du Monde and straight down Esplanade to City Park. It did get hot about mile 4, however the CCC made sure to have plenty of water stops at every mile and all of the crowd support was amazing.

Coming into the finish at City Park was amazing, there were people lined up cheering us in. It was great seeing Bart at the finish line.

Melanie's husband Ali ran the race in 36:19. He came in like 70th out of 17,000+ AMAZING! My husband was right there to catch a picture of his finish.

After the race we went into City Park to check out the after party. They had a great set up with tents of food and the Michelob Ultra was flowing.



The great blogging crew. Shannon, Mindy, and myself. 

In the MEDIA/VIP tent they had sandwiches by SUBWAY and Red Beans and Rice served hot. It was great to relax  after the race in the shade.

I was impressed by the music at the afterparty. Papa Grows Funk and Marc Broussard were rocking the stage. I am a new fan for sure. The music was great and the crowd was rocking.

 

Overall the 35th Annual Crescent City Classic 10k was amazing and a race I will be doing every year. If you are looking for a great race next year to PR in, the CCC would be perfect. The course is flat and fast (as long as you are in the right corral:)

I hope to see all of you there next year.

 

On another note. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. My kids and I went to my parents house for lunch after church. Unfortunately my husband had to work:(

 

Now its your turn... How was your weekend? Did you race?