Race for the Cure

This past weekend, my mom and sisters came to stay so we could all participate in the Race for the Cure (for breast cancer, you know) around the Mall of America. We had some fun girl time the night before while going out to dinner and doing a little shopping. We all came home with perfume samples from Macy's and headaches from too many scents on our bodies.

We tried our shirts on for size the night before since we figured we wouldn't be into photo opps at 6 the next morning (and neither would our photographer!). Mom got a pink shirt because she's a survivor.

We arrived at the mall a little after 7 a.m. and were directed to the perfect parking spot--right by the port-a-potties. Seriously...it was perfect! Then we checked out all the tables and tents where vendors were giving out free stuff, including breakfast! We got free (everything, really) Panera bagels and Caribou coffee on top of a load of other fun stuff. Then we dropped off all of our loot back at the car (which was parked in the perfect spot!) and got ready to walk the 5k.

It was a little chilly, but an otherwise lovely day.

Getting ready to walk--this was just heading towards the START sign. We were very enthusiastic!

I'd say we were in the middle of the crowd waiting to start the walk, so this picture only shows the gazillions of people in front of us. We heard that there were 50,000 people there that day. Amazing! Those pink signs on people's backs were tributes of celebration or in memory of loved ones with breast cancer. It was very moving to see how many people had lost moms, grandmas, aunts and friends to the disease. It was very sobering to see multiple women in families whose names were listed--family history plays a big part in breast cancer. I feel so fortunate that I did not need an "In Memory of" sign.

All along the way, there were groups of people cheering us on as we walked. This was a fun drum group on the sidelines. I imagine that support like this was especially encouraging to those who have survived breast cancer.

Here we are at the finish line. What a wonderful experience! Something I think we'd all be happy to do again...especially if we can get the same parking spot.