Dr. Nancy English Memorial 5k

As many of you know, my doctor passed away very unexpectedly August 8th of this year.Dr. English was my doctor of almost 10 years, she delivered Braden, walked us through all of the complication with Katey and encouraged us that we could have another beautiful healthy baby, who is Jack. Dr. English was their doctor too. And they never complained about having to go see her, actually they couldn't wait.

I was lucky enough to not only have her as my doctor but I had the privilege to run with her and against her quite a bit this past year. So, when I found out they were doing a 5k in memory for her I knew I wanted it to be a family affair.

We went back and forth this past week trying to decide if we were all going to go or if I was just going to go with Jessica. In the end we left it up to the kids and they all wanted to do it. It was freezing this morning, only about 34 degrees on our way down there. Our plan was to all walk it together with Jessica but the boys really wanted to run. I thought it would be harmless to let them take off and we could catch up with them after they ran out of steam. Well, about 2 minutes into that idea I decided I better run up a bit so I could at least see them. I caught up to Braden fairly quickly,I told him to just keep going and dad couldn't be far behind and that I had to keep running so I could keep an eye on Max. At the turn around I was finally able to catch up with Max because I told he to hold on a minute and wait for me. He happily did but I think it was mostly because he knew I would take his hat and mittens for him. When we saw Braden he just started to run back with us and shortly after that we found Chad, Katey and Jack. Some how at this point I ended up with the stroller and Chad went back to find Braden who was having a hard time keeping up with me and Max. Once I got the stroller it was pretty much game over for me. I'm super excited to say that Max finish in 32 minutes. I have found my new running buddy! Katey,Jack, and I finished in about 39 minutes. Braden and Chad came in at about 45 minutes. Braden says he'll never run a 5k again! Max on the other hand has talked me into running a 5k on Thanksgiving morning. I know Dr. English would be so proud to know that she had something to do with Max finding a love in running.

Before the race....



I forgot to mention Jack fell asleep. So, of course I got the camera out during the race and took a picture.

Katey running to the finish line, she ran the last 1/2 mile.

Max after we finished I was able to take his picture. I'm so proud of my little runner!

Braden finishing it up strong, but never doing one again!