mission: accomplished!

Dear Friends & Family,

We are officially Finishers of the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Las Vegas 2012!!!!!!!! We crossed the finish line in 2 hours 39 minutes after dealing with 45 mph headwinds for the last 7 miles. Running down the Las Vegas Strip was amazing though, and the cheering from all the spectators gave us encouragement when we needed it most.

13.1 miles on the Vegas Strip, at night, with 22,000 runners, 1,400 Team Challenge team members, $10,855 raised, husbands on the sidelines, and 2 sisters who set out to raise money and awareness of a disease they both know far too well. Memories were made and lives were changed, thanks in part to your support, prayers, and generous donations. You backed us and our mission to raise money for a cause some of you had never heard of. For some of you, this, too was personal. Either you, or a family member or friend live with Crohn's or Colitis everyday and supporting us was your way of being a part of something big and with that hope and support, we're going to see some amazing things happen with research and hopefully, in our lifetime, a cure!

We want to thank you, again, for supporting us over the last 5 months. It has been an incredible journey, and one we will never forget!

With love,

Heather, Michelle, Ally, & Emily

final countdown....

As Michelle & I are packing, preparing, & processing what this weekend means to us, we covet your prayers. For an injury free race, for endurance & for a great weekend away from all 4 of our girls. We are INCREDIBLY thankful to the 2 families that have so graciously signed up to take them while we're away. We really couldn't do this without you!!

The next time we will update everyone on the blog, we will be official finishers of the 

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon 2012 in Las Vegas!!! 

Thank you, on behalf of both my sister and I, for every single person who has encouraged, supported, prayed, and cheered us on for the last 4 months! It means so much to us and we will be thinking of all of you on race day! 

Including a few special people....

Allyson Meyer

Emily Meyer

Drew Payne

Jenna DelBalso

Tethra Wales

Aana Blalock

(in loving memory of) Uncle Phil Foster 

(in loving memory of) Alan Turner 

(in loving memory of) Greg Zymbaluk

All of the children on the 'Parents of Children with Crohn's or Colitis' Facebook Page

All of the individuals on the 'Chronicles of Crohnies' Facebook Page

counting the days!!!!

15 days until Vegas!!!!!!

How can we ever Thank You enough??

Saturday was my 2nd fundraiser and what a fun night we had!! 

It took place at Eau de Vie Wine Shoppe in Liberty Lake, next to Hay J's. 

Chris, the owner was SO generous!!! He committed to donating ALL of the gratuities from the night to the foundation, plus donated a $75 bottle of wine & 2 Riedel wine glasses for the wine basket raffle! 

Tiffany & her husband were the lucky winners!!!!  

We raised $175 just in raffle ticket money!!!

I can't wait to pick up the check tomorrow from Chris and make another donation on your behalf!!!! 

And today, IT happened. We surpassed our goal of $10,000! I am completely blown away and absolutely speechless with the amount of support we have been given over the last 4 months. It has truly been a faith walk as we were at the mercy of other people, hoping and praying they would be generous to a cause that is near and dear to our hearts. It has most definitely brought my sister & I closer together, as we set out to not only raise money, but train for probably the biggest race of our lives. To watch, as my sister went from HATING running to not cursing it (well she still might, but definitely not as much! Ha!) to running her VERY first 11 miles EVER. I am BEYOND proud of her. She really has NO idea how proud I am. If I think about it too long, I find myself crying at the thought of what crossing that finish line with her, will be like. Woah.

So, THANK YOU to every person who has prayed for us, encouraged us, & donated to this cause. We've said it on Facebook several times, but it's worth repeating; we are completely and utterly humbled by your generosity. 3 + 1.4 million people thank you. Your support will never be forgotten and will be forever embedded in our minds. We seriously could NOT have done this without you. Each. and. every. one. of. you. Thank you.

Watch out, Las Vegas, Sisters For A Cause are headed your way!!!!

Go BIG or Go Home!!!

We are only $760.00 away from our $10,000 goal so what's better than having another fundraiser??! 

This one is for our Spokane Area Friends! 

Come out to Eau de Vie Wine Shoppe

on Saturday November 3rd from 6:00 - 9:00 pm

in Liberty Lake (next to Hay J's)

 and enter to win a FABULOUS wine basket, filled with a $75 bottle of wine, and everything you need for a quiet night at home! So plan a Girls Night Out, or a Date Night or grab the guys and head over for a beer! ALL tips from the evening go directly to the CCFA! Raffle tickets will be sold from 6 - 9 ($5 a ticket or 5 for $20) and a winner will be chosen at 9:00!! You do not need to be present to win. 

Paul & I hope to see you there!!!

My First 10K!

Today was my first official race!!  I ran a 10K through some pretty gnarly terrain (6.2 miles of cowpies, soft dirt, hay fields, water, mud, freezing drizzle and it was 30 degrees!!), with a final chip time of 1'10".  Was trying my hardest to outdo my sister's last 10K (1'6"), but some of the ground we were running on was just too rough to go very fast.  I finished 29th in my age group, which sounded pretty cool until I realized I have no idea how many people were running in my age group!  (hoping there was more than 30, ha ha).  Just wish my sis could have been there to run with us, but I know she was there in spirit!

It was a lot of fun to run with my Team Challenge teammates too, and I learned quite a bit about myself and how to run a race.  Slow and steady is really the way I prefer to run, but I found myself consistently running 10 min miles the first 3 miles, and was not breathing the way I should.  Once I scaled back, and remembered to hydrate, I pulled myself together and got 'er done.

Colby and the girls were there to cheer me on, and I know the rest of our team was happy to see the girls too.  They are a good reminder for why we are running for them!

As of today, my sister and I have raised.....<drumroll please...>

$8, 576!!!!  

 

WOOHOO!!  I could not be more excited and proud of our friends and family who are supporting us with this cause.  It absolutely makes my heart sing.  From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!!

Sandpoint bound!

I saw this on the Team Challenge Facebook page the other day and chuckled....

Early afternoon on Saturday, Paul & I and the girls packed up the van and headed east to Priest River, Idaho where my family has a cabin. The 10k race Amanda (my running partner) and I signed up to run was set to start early Sunday morning, so it made sense to stay the night with my Aunt & Uncle at the cabin, 20 minutes away from the start line.

I captured this right as we drove away Sunday morning. What a beautiful day to run a race! 

There was a half marathon (this particular race is called The Scenic Half Marathon - and scenic it is!!!!) set to start 10 minutes before the 10k runners. There was also a 5k race that started 10 minutes after we did. 

me, Amanda, & her coworker Jen before the race

One of these days I will be bold enough to start at the very front ;) 

 My daughter Megan wanted me to wave as I ran by (that's me in the blue Team Challenge shirt)

About to cross the finish line with a (personal) record time of 1 hour 6 minutes and 13 seconds!!!

It looks like I was coming in for a landing!! It was prior to my celebratory dance across the finish line ;) 

post race

awkward pose - the sun was so bright and Paul couldn't see my face because of my hat, so he told me to raise my head ;) 

This race was so high tech (something we're not used to up here in the pacific northwest) they had an ipad station with our times listed! 

our post race picture courtesy of a local photographer. It got cut off, but I'm doing the Tebow pose ;) 

Overall it was a great race with a fairly flat course and moderate wind as we crossed the looooooong bridge into Sandpoint.  It's the bridge going to the right in the picture below. Thanks Google for the nice aerial shot ;) (The bridge on the left is a train track....)
The bottom edge of the land that is connected to the bridge we ran on, is right up against the water and we ran right along there for the first 2 or so miles.