The 12th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run

Saturday morning was the 12th annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run and honestly at this point, I've lost count of how many years I've participated in this race. Maybe six, seven, eight? I just really don't know. I didn't think I would have anyone to walk or hang out with this year, but then remembered that my friend from church Emily had participated last year and so on Friday night I sent her a text and asked if she would be my walking buddy (that is, if she were planning to walk). She agreed and we set a meeting place for Saturday morning. 

Emily's mom had breast cancer in 2011, but is doing great now and so Emily, her mom and brothers have done the race for the past four years. I parked in the Blossomwood neighborhood and walked over to the school and walked and shuffled through a  sea of pink to find Emily her mom and brother and some of her mom's friends. We started towards the back of the group and finished in about an hour or so. I've got to start walking more because I think I get slower every year! Emily and I spent the whole race talking and catching up. She and I have been friends for a few years but don't see each other all that much. She has kept Pippa for me a time or two and I usually just see her at church so it was good to be able to spend some time with her one on one. After he race was over I grabbed some goodies, otherwise known as breakfast, and then walked back to my car. I was back home before 9:30 a.m. and was able to take a late morning nap before tackling the rest of the days activities. 

I heard there were about 6,000 participants this year. The team than raised the most money raised close to $12,000 all for a great cause - to fight breast cancer and buy some great equipment for the Huntsville Breast Center. I love seeing so many people come together for such a fun event and a worthy cause!

11th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run

This past Saturday was the 11th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run and it was my fifth year to participate, or maybe my sixth. I've honestly lost count. At any rate, I participated again this year and it was just as much fun as every other year. 

The race started at 8:00 a.m. and I drove over to my cousin Lauren's house at 7:15 a.m. to meet up with her and Anna and some of Lauren's Co-Workers. We all walked from Lauren's house to the race start which was about a mile away. I think everyone but me ran all or at least some of the race. I walked the whole thing because for one I hate running and for two I'm having problems with my knee still. So, I just strolled and took it all in, as they say. 

The citizens of our fine city were out along the streets as they always are and were just as enthusiastic as ever. One of the streets was decorated with balloons and wooden cut outs of pink ribbons. It looked especially festive. As always, there were tons of tutus and other outrageous outfits along the way, including one man who was dressed from head to toe in pink - even with a pink wig and pink bra. This is one of the funnest races of the year and I love that everyone lets their inner crazy shine through. I, once again, wore my pink tutu. 

When I finished the race, I didn't expect to see anyone I knew at the finish line. I figured everyone would have already begun making their way back to Lauren's house. However, Lauren, Anna, Anna's husband Randy and a couple of others were waiting for me at the finish line and cheering on my last few steps. It warmed my heart, especially since just a few steps before seeing them I was thinking to myself how nice it would be for someone I know to be cheering me on for a change. I secretly always hope someone in my family will show up and cheer me on at a race, but my family likes to sleep late. It was so nice of them to wait on me and my slow-paced self. 

After crossing the finish line, I circled back around to the group and we journeyed back to Lauren's house where we went our separate ways for the day. It was another successful Ribbon Run and a great way to spend a beautiful fall Saturday morning. 

The 10th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run

I had a busy, busy weekend full of activities, friends and fun! Friday night I actually had the night at home and it was nice to just sit and do nothing after a very stressful and chaotic work week. I caught up on some TV shows and dozed in and out of consciousness and thankfully Pippa kept herself occupied and didn't mind me being too exhausted to stay awake all night.

This past Saturday morning was the 10th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run, and if I remember correctly, my fifth year in a row to participate. This year the place where I work put together a "team" if you want to call it that. Some of us signed up under our company name and if the others were like me, they probably thought someone might actually put together a team shirt or something, but that did not happen. In fact, our team "captain" was also supposed to pick up our race packets and she didn't do that either. So, Thursday after work I drove by Fleet Feet to get my packet and also the packet for my co-worker Maria who had asked me to walk with her.   

Saturday morning about 7:30 a.m., Maria came to my house so that we could ride together. The race started at 8:00 a.m. and since we were walking, I figured we would be finished about 9:00 a.m. and had made tentative plans to meet some folks from the church I used to attend for breakfast. This year, the race organizers lined people up according to the following categories: Runners, Joggers, Walkers, and Strollers. I actually thought strollers meant casual strollers, but it meant people with strollers; yet another blonde moment in my life.   

Maria and I arrived plenty of time before the race started and lined up with the walkers. We had grabbed a banana before lining up which wasn't really the best idea because there were no garbage cans to be found. I finally just placed our trash on one of the scissor lifts that the cameras were using. I don't typically litter, but due to the lack of garbage cans and the massive amount of people I was having to fight to move one inch, I just gave up and decided the scissor lift would be a nice spot for the disposal of my banana peel. 

The race finally got underway, and as expected, it took me about an hour to finish. I saw lots of friends, co-workers, family members and acquaintances throughout the morning. The Liz Hurley is one of the biggest races of the year and there were 6,500 entrants this year. As opposed to years' past, this year both men and women raced together. There were, as always, tons of supporters along the way which is always nice to see.

About 1/4 mile from the finish, Maria decided to pick up her pace, but because of my aching foot, I could not and I had a bad feeling about her heading on down the road. My gut feeling was right and I could not locate Maria after the race. In fact, it was nearly 9:40 before I finally caught a glimpse of her bee-bopping along and eating a slice of pizza. I think it goes without saying that I did not make it to my breakfast appointment which was disappointing because I really wanted some bacon, grits and biscuits!

There were tons of great team shirts and outfits again this year, although I didn't get any pictures of them. One team, The Painted Bra Project, all had on bras that were painted and bedazzled - both men and women - and those were the greatest outfits by far. The atmosphere was just as electric and fun as it is year after year and it's a great way to spend the morning for a great cause. 

9th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run

Saturday was one of my favorite events of the fall season, the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run. This was the fourth year I participated in the event and as in years passed it was an enjoyable time.

The women’s race started at 9:00 a.m. and I left the house around 8:30 and parked in a neighborhood across the street from the back of Huntsville Middle School which is where the race started and ended. As is always the case, there were thousands of people milling about. The registration ended at 6,000 runners and I have no doubt that number was reached.

A month or so ago I had asked Jackie if she wanted to get pink tutus to wear at the race and so I found a lady on Etsy who agreed to make them for us. The lady emailed us when they were ready and I was so excited to wear it for the race. Jackie ended up not doing the race the year but I went ahead and wore mine anyway because you know I never miss an opportunity to make a fool of myself. I was not the only one in a tutu though; there were lots of gals wearing them and even one man! Before the race started, I ran into a friend I had not seen in a long while and I asked her to take a picture of me in my tutu.

The race started at 9:03 and we were off. There are a lot of people who walk this 5K and I was one of them. The women’s race is actually more casual than most of the races in town and a lot of husbands walk with their wives and people bring their dogs along as well. I think it would probably be best if they did a competitive 5K at the early time and then a 5K walk at the 9:00 a.m. time, but no one asked me.

There were lots of spectators along the way cheering us on and of course, lots and lots of pink. One house had a plethora of pink balloons staked in the yard which I though looked really cool. Since I don’t own a fanny pack and didn’t have anyone waiting on me, I had to carry my phone and keys in my hands and so I took a couple of pictures along the way.

I finished in less than an hour and immediately sought out the pizza table because at that point I was exceptionally hungry. I grabbed a piece of pizza and a water and was on my way back to the car. On my way back a girls stopped and asked me if she could take a picture of me in my tutu and I agreed. Who knows, it may be posted on someone else’s blog. There wasn’t much pomp and circumstance for me this year since I did it alone, but it was still fun nonetheless. I look forward to doing it again next year!

8th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run

Saturday was the 8th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run and once again, Jackie, Jan, and I participated. For the second year in a row, we were on Team Christina, along with Ms. Kathy and Christa and a slew of other folks, most of whom I probably do not even know. Christina goes to church at Twickenham Church of Christ and has breast cancer. I met her last year at the spaghetti dinner; but from what I understand she is much worse this year and may not have much longer here on earth. She has a husband and five or more kids if I remember correctly; so, we were happy to be able to support her and her family at this difficult time in their lives.

This year the run maxed out at 5,500 runners. I’m not sure why that was the cut off, but this has by far become the biggest race in Huntsville each year. A lot people walk the race, which is what we did, because these feet of mine are not in running shape these days. Speaking of which (yes, this is a side note) my foot surgery which had been scheduled for this Wednesday has been postponed because my doctor had a heart attack. I have to call back in a couple of weeks to reschedule. OK, back to the story now…

I left my house at 8:30. The women’s race started at 9:00 and I knew it would be a nightmare trying to find a parking space. I was going to ride my bike, but then would have to carry my helmet or risk it getting stolen; so, I drove Blue down to the Huntsville Middle School area of town and eventually found a parking spot a couple of streets over.

I brought my phone and keys and Chap Stick with me – yes, all the essentials. I knew I wouldn’t be running at all so carrying these items wasn’t much of a burden for me. I sent Jackie a text telling her I would meet them in front of the HMS sign; but when it was about five minutes until time for the race to start, I went on up to the start line and sent Jackie a text telling her so. Another friend who wasn’t racing stood with me for a while and then saw Jackie and Jan when they came up and pointed them in my direction, Long story short, we found each other just before the race started.

We all walked the race and had a good time talking and enjoying the view. We even came across a pair of gay dads downtown that had the cutest bouncy seat I have ever seen – it was an old Chevrolet car. We also came across a lamppost in a front yard that had a lot of pink bras wrapped around it. Some folks had music playing for us and others were just cheering us all on. It was really a great atmosphere. Once we reached Adams, the final street of the race, I asked Jackie is she wanted to run and we took off. We got maybe half way down the street before I had to put a halt to all that fun. Not only was the ole foot bothering me, but also my knees. Folks, it sucks getting old, but as my dad says, it’s better than the alternative. Once I get my foot repaired and back to where I can walk, my plan is to start training for a half-marathon. Jackie said she would do it with me, even though I’ve also heard her say she will never do a half-marathon again. So, don’t hold us to it, it’s just our plan – for now. We may decide to sit back and eat a bunch of cupcakes instead.

We finished with our worst time ever, just a few seconds under an hour, which also is not entirely accurate considering we started at the end of the pack and didn’t even cross the start line when the timer started counting. So, you’re welcome to shave off a good five minutes or more off of that time. We don’t mind.

Regardless of what our actual time was, we did have a good time and it was for a good cause as well. After it was all over, we went to Blue Plate Café for a filling and delicious lunch (thanks, Jan!) and then went our separate ways. It was a really fun day and I look forward to doing it all over again next year – only with a better finish time (I’m talking to you, feet!).

Me, Jan, Ms. Kathy, Jackie and Christa

The start of the race

Lamppost with pink bras

Empty pizza boxes after the race

Bananas after the race

7th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run - Part Two

As mentioned in the last post, Jackie, Jan and I were on Team Christina this year. Christina attends Twickenham C of C and some of her friends started a team for her as she is in the beginning stages of battling breast cancer. Somehow the word spread and people from other churches began to join, which is how we ended up being on the team. Some of Jan’s friends knew about it and we all decided to join. At last count, I believe there were 144 people on the team, raising the second largest sum of money behind one of the corporations in town. I was able to meet Christina at the Spaghetti Dinner on Friday night and she seemed to be in good spirits and was really excited about all the people running on her team.

The team had really cute shirts, pink for the girls and white for the guys, and we all wore them on race day.

When I got up Saturday morning, I had almost no pain in my foot, which was a modern day miracle; however, I still decided to walk rather than run because I didn’t want to press my luck. I made it through the whole 3.2 miles, but it was the slowest finish time I have ever had, which kind of makes me chuckle. My foot punished me by hurting the rest of the day and weekend.

There were tons of people and tons of pink as always. We had a really fun time and enjoyed spending the morning together.

As a reminder, my college roommate, Melissa, is walking in a 60-mile walk this weekend for breast cancer awareness. Please keep her in your prayers as she attempts to accomplish her goal. She is also volunteering to carry the names of your loved ones with her during her walk. If you’d like for her to remember someone you know, then please check out this blog post and leave her a comment. Good luck Melissa! Love ya!

Here are some pictures for you:

Here are Jackie and I before the race. I had ordered the hat from Etsy and got lots of compliments on it. After we started the race I was ready to shed it because it was getting warm, but my hair was greasy so I kept it on.

There were lots of dogs there and this little one was the first to catch my eye. I loved its doggie sweater.

Here is one of the banners at the tent for Team Christina.

All of the phrases on the banner were on the backs of our shirts.

Another dog - this one and its friend had on pink tutus.

I'm pretty sure The Tide would have nothing to do with wearing a tutu.

Kim, Louwena (not sure if I spelled that right), Jan, Jackie and Me.

I didn't get the dark pants memo apparently

The women's 5K is off to a good start!

There were tons of runners/walkers

Jackie and I thought the shirts for this team were funny.

There were babies along for the ride too!

This one's for you, Tony - with a little less than a mile to go we came across these people blowing Vuvuzelas.

I felt like I was at the World Cup! I heard them before I reached them and knew immediately what they were and I was right!

Here's a closer look!

7th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run – Part One

This past weekend was the 7th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run benefiting the Liz Hurley Breast Cancer Fund at Huntsville Hospital Foundation. Jackie and I did the Ribbon Run last year and decided to do it again this year. Jackie’s mom, Jan, was also planning to participate and asked us to join the team she was on, Team Christina (more on this later).

Friday night was the pre-race spaghetti dinner at Huntsville Middle School and we all attended. The dinner was catered by Carrabba’s and was really good. They had ziti (with or without meat), Caesar salad, bread, and brownies and cookies for dessert. We all arrived a little bit after 5:00 and there were not a ton of people there yet, but as we were leaving there were a lot of people coming in so I would say we ate at just the right time.

Troy had red punch, can you tell?

After we ate, we went outside and looked at the luminaries. You could buy a pink bag for a luminary for a loved one who has battled breast cancer. Troy and Ashlyn got two bags for their Auntie Michelle.

We ran into some friends that we knew from church and talked to them for a while and then Jackie and I went over and had our picture taken by a pink tractor. There was a little boy named Steven sitting/playing on the tractor and he wasn’t too keen about getting down so we told his mom he could stay in the picture.

It was a nice evening spent with good friends and good food, which is always an excellent combination.

Up next… race day!

A Few Notes for Friday

It’s the first day of October and there are only 91 days left in the year! You’d better get started on your Christmas shopping! I love October, even more than I love September. I love to decorate for Halloween, and I especially like to buy pumpkins. To me, the pumpkin symbolizes fall – crisp air, and warm fires and of course, more football! I always try to wait until the calendar turns to October before buying any pumpkins and this year is no different. I hope to pick some up over the weekend and drag out the Halloween decorations too. If I get it all completed, I’ll try to post some pictures next week.

October is also the month in which the route for the next year’s le Tour de France will be announced. So, on October 15 I will have a general idea of where my trip next July will take me. I’m very excited and really looking forward to that day!

I’m driving a rental car this week. My car is in the shop to be repaired from P’s drunk driving. The car is a 2010 Chrysler Sebring, silver in color, and looks just like my dad’s last company car. I chuckle to myself every time I call it “The Rental” because it reminds me of Troy and his great love of “The Rental” on our trip this past summer.

Thanks to those of you that clarified that “Ride a Horse” wasn’t homosexual in content, but sexual nonetheless. I feel a little bit better. The first time I ever heard this phrase was when I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said, “Save a Horse, Ride A Cowboy,” so perhaps that’s why I thought it was homosexual in nature.

Don’t forget the 7th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run is coming up on October 16 to raise money for Huntsville Hospital and breast cancer awareness. I won’t be running, and I’ll do good to walk to whole way as much as my foot has been hurting lately, but join us if you can, it’s sure to be a good time – and you’ll get exercise!

Speaking of exercise, I’m still going to the gym three to four times per week. I haven’t been this week because I’ve been plagued with a sinus infection, but I plan on going back tomorrow morning. I’m really starting to tone up and have noticed some small changes and have now lost about 10 pounds.

Speaking of breast cancer awareness, my college roommate, Melissa, is still raising money for her Susan G. Komen 3-Day, 60-mile walk. She has around $500 to go and is asking for your help. She is having a giveaway over on her blog and if you contribute $20 to her goal, then you will be entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card. So, check it out and donate if you can.

For those of you who haven’t stopped by Kimberly’s blog lately, you need to do so. She has been updating like crazy over the past few days, writing of her Malaysian adventures. It looks like she’s having a good time!

I’m headed out to Sparkman tonight to cover football for The Huntsville Times; so, look for another concession stand review next week.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend!

Updates Galore!

I figured it was time for some updates since I’m sure you’re wondering about this or that and well, there’s not all that much else to write about these days, so here you go…

The 7th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run is coming up on October 16. Last year Jackie and I walked in the Ribbon Run and I am planning to do it again this year. I haven’t talked with Jackie about it so I’m not sure if she is planning to come along or not. I plan to walk again this year because I can’t do much running with my feet the way they are or else I’ll be in pain for days afterwards. The cost to sign-up is $20 and you can do that here. Let me know if you sign up!

Speaking of breast cancer fundraising, my college roommate, Melissa is raising money to participate in a three day 60-mile walk in honor of her sister who was diagnosed with and beat breast cancer. If you would like to donate, check out her blog here.

I haven’t seen much of Charlie the neighbor lately. Apparently (or so I heard and may have mentioned here) he has a lake house and is gone every weekend to that little getaway of his. He does manage to make it home during the week where he will proceed to mow his lawn, but not the weed eating. This is really strange, especially considering he has taken time to water the front lawn. You’d think that someone who spent time water the yard would also want it to look nice and would therefore edge/weed eat; but not Charlie. I think Charlie has a lady friend too. I have seen a woman come over from time to time and they usually end up leaving together – I assume for a hot date (at least someone in the neighborhood has a hot date). This past week, the lady came over and Charlie came out wearing a hat that looked like a chicken. I guess it was some sort of inside joke because she was laughing up a storm. I saw all of this take place because I was walking outside to go pick my brother up from work. I assure you I am not keeping watch out the window.

I just read that there was a home invasion at gunpoint a few streets over from mine. That’s kind of scary!

The bug situation at work is getting a little better. Thanks to all the bug traps the bug folks put out, the population seems to be decreasing. I’ve only had one bug fall on my head in the past couple of weeks; so, that’s an improvement. They were supposed to have fumigated our offices over the weekend but that ended up not happening because some people had to work over the weekend and others complained. I was disappointed because I was really looking forward to seeing how many bugs were going to be lying around; maybe they will do it another time.

My friend Kimberly has now moved to Malaysia! Keep her in your prayers as she and her husband spend the next six months there. I’m sure she will be posting updates on her blog so check it out from time to time. I have no doubt her humor will shine through!

An official congrats to my dear friend Candy who is pregnant with bambino number three!

This past Friday I worked my first high school football game of the 2010 season. I was out at New Hope and OH MY WORD it was hot in the press box – I mean sweltering. The air was stagnant and I was sweating like nobody’s business. Being a connoisseur of concession stands, I ate a hot dog before the game and popcorn at the half. I love concession stand food, in case you didn’t know that. I’m not sure why, but it is so yummy! I was thinking about concession stands throughout the game and after I got home and I decided that I’m going to rank the concession stands of the stadiums I visit this season and post the reviews here. I know you are probably going to be waiting with baited breath to hear about what I ate and what each stand had to offer. If I can get around to it, I’ll post the first review up here today or tomorrow. Maybe in the weeks ahead I can take some photos of the menu and prices. I am actually going to really enjoy this – see how sad my life has become!

College football season starts on Thursday! I really don’t even have the words to describe how happy this makes me.

Yesterday was our first full day of worship in our new church building and it was a really good day! We had 649 people in attendance and the overflow area was full and we had to bring in more chairs! It was awesome! After months of not having individual Bible classes (we all met together), we were finally able to get together in a small Bible class environment, which was also very uplifting. I am so thankful that we have this new building – it already feels like home.

I’m officially registered for the 2011 Tour de France trip:

Hello Natasha,
Pursuant to our previous correspondence, we have charged your credit card $500 as deposit toward your 2011 Tour de France trip.
You will receive a separate email shortly to keep for your records showing the transaction on your credit card.
As we get closer to the official Tour de France announcement in October, we will keep you posted about our trip line up and you will have priority once our packages are published.
In the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any questions.
We look forward to having you along next summer!!
Sincerely,
Geraldine

Can you believe it?! I’m so excited!

Thanks to all of you who have left comments recently. I love to read what you have to say. I was looking at my profile not to long ago and noticed it had over 600 views. Who are all these people reading my profile and why don’t they comment? I want to know who they are because I didn’t even think 600 people knew about this little corner of the web.

If I missed anything you are just dying to know about, let me know in the comments and I’ll post an update. Hope everyone has a great Monday!

The 6th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run

Saturday I participated in the 6th annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run for breast cancer research. This was the first time I had participated in this particular 5K. I recruited Jackie to come along with me. The money raised from this event (over $170K this year) stays in Huntsville and helps to purchase equipment for breast cancer detection and treatment.


On Friday night, they had a spaghetti dinner catered by Carrabba’s – it was so good! I picked up my packet at Huntsville Middle School and didn’t intend on staying, but I figured, it’s free so why not, and I’m glad I did! Just thinking about it now makes me want some more!

Jackie came by the house and picked me up about 8:30 and we headed to Huntsville Middle for the start of the women’s 5K at 9:00. We had agreed we would walk and do some running in between the walking. Well, Jackie injured her foot on Friday night stepping on our friend Maria’s shoe and my left foot was hurting something awful (I think it’s planters fasciitis, it’s been bothering me for months) so we ended up walking all but about 100 yard of which we ran.

Around mile two, it started raining hard and by the end of the race, we were soaked. Thankfully neither of us has gotten sick as a result of being wet and cold. It was all for a good cause, and we had a good time. I took my camera along and here’s what I captured:

Jackie's tying her shoe before the start of the big race!

I'm ready to get started!

View of the finish line.

I think there are some men trying to finish up their race.

Over 4,500 people registered. The men's 5K was at 8:00 and the women's 5K was at 9:00; but there were a lot of men that walked or ran in the women's 5K which was confusing for me!

At the start of the race! It was cold!

There were people as far as you could see!

Even canines came along for the cause!

And a woman in an 80s jogging suit - her hair was very 80s also!

Approaching the finish line.