The Reason I Run...

• i mentioned in my first post that my first 5K was last May. it was the "Caped Crusaders 5K" which helps raise money for a high school friend and his family who lost their sweet little girl to cancer. a lot of things stand out about that day because it was such a huge deal that i was actually RUNNING a race for the first time in my entire life. but the thing that stays with me was starting the race with my precious daddy. he's not a man of many words and doesn't express how he feels outwardly very often (he also happened to pass down that trait to his daughter!) :) but he and i both knew this was special.
• he has been running since i was born. i've never known him not being a runner. when he couldn't run because it was raining, he would run in place inside. when we were going somewhere and my mom wasn't ready to go (which was a lot..) he'd say, "i'll start walking and ya'll just pick me up." bless him, sometimes he'd be halfway to church before we'd get there! we'd travel to places all over NC, SC, and even went to Washington, DC for races when i was little. so for me to do this with him was one of those memories we'll both hold onto forever. my goal in life is to be just like him. he is an absolutely incredible Christian example, daddy, granddaddy, teacher, friend, and husband. so i guess in a way i feel like i'm making him proud every time i run and that makes me feel pretty dang good...and when i finished several minutes ahead of him in the last 2 races we ran together, he didn't have to say it to me out loud and we could go the rest of our lives without him saying it, but i think he was pretty proud of his little girl...