Groundhog Run 2016

If you are looking for a unique place to run you have got to do the TLC Groundhog Run in Kansas

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City, Mo. It is the only totally underground 10K in the USA and is a wonderful place to run out of the wind and cold. It’s for a worthy cause, Children’s Therapeutic Learning Center, and you might see me there in my Racing for a Cure singlet as I use this race to raise money for the Arthritis National Research Foundation.

This year, my daughter Lyndi decided to to the 10K with me. She just started the Couch 2 5K program a few weeks ago so this was going to be a stretch. I’ve been running better but am still a long way from where i was once upon a time. We decided to make a girls weekend of it and stay at a nearby hotel to get the feel of a destination race even though her home is only about an hour away.

My friend Amber M., her husband Mark, and their daughter Allison also accepted my invitation to run and we making a long weekend out of the trip. We all met for dinner Saturday evening and loaded up on carbs (that’s our excuse to eat lots of yummy spaghetti!) and shared lots of laughs and sang Happy Birthday to Mark.

We are so ready to run!

Our race didn’t start until 10:00 so we didn’t have to get up too early and rush around to get ready. We were at the race site in plenty of time to get board. I know, I’m too worried about being late and I need to work on that. It’s a little chilly in the tunnel and we were standing around too long before the race. OK, Amber, you were right. We could have slept another 30 minutes.

At race time we moved deeper into the tunnels to the start line and listened to the National Anthem echo around the caves. We were off! We were in the slow wave and I felt right at home with this group: those who are just starting out, who are recovering from injury or illness, who are old and still moving, who are young and just want to participate. These are my people! As a back-of-the-packer I get a chance to be encouraging, stop and smell the roses, say thank you to the volunteers, and just enjoy the ride.

Lyndi and I started out with good intervals and were making good time. The first 2 miles went pretty well. But that’s as far as her training has gotten so for the next mile the run intervals were much shorter but we still finished the first 5K much faster than the Running With The Cows we did in May. And as we planned, we walked the second 5K and had a great time visiting and taking in the atmosphere of the day. That’s is a win in my books!

We were nearly the last out of the tunnels but we didn’t care. We gladly accepted our medals and

Lyndi's first 10K!

headed back to the hotel to grab our gear and head home. My granddaughters thought the medal was neat  and Mom and Grandma are pretty cool. What better way to be a positive role model then to be active and strive to accomplish a goal even when it’s difficult and takes you out of your comfort zone. To complete a 10K when you have only worked up to 2 miles is pretty gutsy.

I’m proud to say my family and friends helped raise over $500 for the Arthritis National Research Foundation. You can still make a donation at any time. Amber and her family have taken me in as sort of a tag along aunt and that’s yet another unexpected blessing of doing what I do. The weekend was full of good food, great friends, and amazing family. Who could ask for more!

Happy Birthday, Mark!