Help the Homeless 5K and Walkathon

My race this week was very special to me. I ran in the Help the Homeless 5K and Walkathon at Dallas City Hall Plaza on Saturday November 13, 2010. The proceeds from the event benefit the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) a 501c organization that operates The Bridge, a homeless shelter that provides emergency care, and housing for homeless people in Dallas. Run-On! outfitted a nine member dream team of homeless runners with shoes and clothes, and trained them for this special race. More than 3,000 people participated in the event. The 5K run started at 9:00AM with the mayor of Dallas, Tom Leppert making an appearance as our starter. I had my picture taken with him (and others who lined up at the starting line) by my photographer friend Jerry Glover. Jerry also took pictures of both races and the awards ceremony. Sponsors of the event were Fannie Mae, Baylor Health Care System, Tenet, Lincoln Property Company, Run-On!, New Balance, Dr Pepper, 21 HD, Jerry Glover Photography, and many more. DFW Runs helped promote this race like last week's Dallas Running Club Half Marathon and 5K. The race directors were Eric and Sharon Lindberg. DFW Runs really knows how to organize a good race so everyone has a great time. We were entertained by Local Trash a local band that uses trash cans and other "junk" instruments to create the great sound of music. They played for everyone after the race started and when both finished. They have volunteered many times at Cancer Support Community of North Texas (formerly Gilda's Club) which I am a member of, so I had already heard them play before. It's always a treat to see them in action again. My bib # was 84, which is the age of my mother who is in a nursing home with Alziemers Disease. My younger brother is on a feeding tube, and is also living in a nursing home in Louisiana. My son, a graduate from SMU can't find a job and is having a hard time right now. Running in this race for the homeless inspired me to do my best. I feel very fortunate to be a prostate cancer survivor, and to have a home to go to every night. I hope my running will inspire others to try walking and running as a way to better health. I stretched and jogged a little to warm up before the race, then lined up on the 1st row. Mayor Leppert started us and I took off as fast as I could on this very cool morning. There was no one at the mile markers to tell us our time at this race. This was mostly a flat race except for a couple of spots. The route went on Houston Street then crossed over the bridge toward Oak Cliff for a short distance to the turnaround, then the back toward downtown Dallas to the finish line. Just before the finish line, past the 3 mile marker, there was a long hill. I was low on energy and my bad hips would not let me run too fast. About 6 runners passed me up, but when we got to flat ground again I was able to pick it up again. On the final turn to the finish line I looked up and saw the timer was under 27 minutes. I rushed to the finish line to get under the time. When it was all done, I had run my fastest race in months in the time of 26:58 and received a 2nd place award for my age group. You can see the results of the race here. You can see some pictures from Jerry Glover Photography here - here - here - here - here My line: Place Bib# Men Overall Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace 2/4 84 48/107 57/196 26:58:00 26:58:00 8:41 I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com