Finish at the 50
95 degrees. Zero wind. Pure Humidity. Hurricane Arthur around the corner.
We certainly have an amazing group of supporters. If anyone decided not to run due to the weather, we wouldn’t have been surprised. However, every SINGLE registered Hope Never Fails runner not only showed up but also gave it their all. They also raised just under $5,000 for AGC!
Our day started at 3:00 with the kids run. The kids ran in heats by age. Our youngest runner, Miles (age 2), was up first. For weeks, Miles woke up every morning and made lego keychains to sell as part of his fundraising. His keychains raised $900. Imagine that, at only 2 years old! While we were sitting in the stadium, waiting to be called down to run, Miles started to get scared. He no longer wanted to run. The stadium is huge, the crowd was even larger and it was loud. We reminded him that he worked so hard training and raising money – it may be scary but it will be worth it in the end. That little pep talk was all he needed. When we got out there, my husband took him to the starting line and I stayed on the side to take pictures. I managed to get a couple of pictures but I mostly cried. In fact, I cried like it was the day we got the call that his birth mother was in labor. He ran with such pride. When he heard spectators yell his name, his arms pumped harder, his legs ran faster and he scrunched his face like he was winning the Boston Marathon. It was Ah-Mazing!
After Miles’s heat, we had 5 more kids run with their age group. They were all brave to stick it out. I can’t tell you enough times how hot it was. I cried with every runner that passed the finish line.
Team Hope Never Fails consisted of infertility patients, a pregnant runner, marathon runners, first time race runners and even a girl who was wearing a sling! During the 10k run, residents stood outside their homes with hoses to spray the runners as they passed. Our 10k runners said that the hoses helped them cool off enough to keep going. Our last runner finished sometime around 7:45PM. It was a long day but worth every second.
Thank you to all our runners and all our supporters
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