Last Updated on December 10, 2019 by Heather Hart, ACSM EP, CSCS
ANYWAY. I arrived in D.C. on Saturday afternoon, and after a bit of rest Holly and I drove up to Baltimore. We met up with Team Cancer to 5k and had a wonderful dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn where we were staying. Pasta, pasta, and more pasta. Can’t beat it! In our hotel room that night, Holly enlisted my arts and crafts help in making medals for our Cancer to 5k runners. Holly gave me all the pieces, and I assembled and sewn. I was pretty proud of our handy work, and we knew our participants would be surprised!
That night, I was *thrilled* to sleep in a big comfy bed, all to myself, all alone, no babies, no toddlers, no one to wake me up. But sure enough, after about 3 hours of sleep I was startled awake by…the silence. haha! My body just didn’t know what to do with itself! The 5:15 wake up call came before I knew it, and we were up and off to the finish line of the Survivor Harbor 7 race to set up Cancer to 5k’s tent.
The Cancer to 5k program, for those of you new to my blog, is a free 12-week training program designed to introduce and/or reintroduce cancer survivors to physical activity by providing them with the training program, coaches, encouragement and support necessary to complete a 5K (3.1 miles) distance road race. (read more about it here: http://www.cancerto5k.org/ ) Over the last 4 seasons, some participants have started training for even longer race distances. Today, we would have some 4 mile runners and some 7 mile runners. On race day, volunteers run as “Sherpas” with the cancer survivors, to basically help them out in anyway they need. Keep the pace, keep the enthusiasm, you name it: just get the survivor to the finish line!
I would be pacing a great guy named Denny , who would be running 7 miles for the first time ever. Not even in training had he covered a full 7 miles. I was very excited to be able to be a part of the team! After helping Holly unload a few things under the tent, I had to take off with the rest of the team and hop on the shuttle bus to the starting line. At the start I was – I can’t believe it – COLD! About 500 miles north was the difference between night and day as far as humidity levels are concerned, wow!! Believe me, after the weather we’ve had in SC, I was happy to be cold ! 🙂
The run itself was a lot of fun. I’ve never really had a chance to explore Baltimore, so this race was almost like a sight seeing tour for me! I’m glad I decided to run with a camera!
Denny’s “happy pace” was around an 11:30/mile. So I set coach Garmin to beep at me if we started going too fast, and Denny, his other Sherpa Colleen, and I took off.
Going over the bridge to the turn around
Ben and his Sherpas, Cat and Monica
I’m such a mom-I saw this and thought “hey look guys, it’s Cranky Crane!” (from Thomas the Tank Engine). Of course no one knew what I was talking about, so I took a picture. When I got home and showed it to Rowen he said “look mommy, it’s Cranky Crane!” See?
running through the Harbor area
I didn’t get this woman’s name, but she is a fellow TEAM FIGHT member. We kept going back and forth passing her and chatting with her. At one point , near the 6 mile mark, it was starting to get hot and I could tell she was pushing herself, and we told her, don’t worry we will ALL make it to the finish line. She yelled out: “THIS! IS! EASIER! THAN! CHEMO!!!! ” It was awesome.
The whole race we held Denny back at a 11:00-11:30/mile pace so he wouldn’t crash and burn. As we turned the corner, about 3/10ths’ of a mile from the finish (and all downhill) I told him he could turn on the jets, as we were almost there. And he certainly did! As we rounded the last turn, about 20 yards from the finish, he took off sprinting! I couldn’t even keep up, never mind take a picture of him finishing! So this post race finish line picture will have to suffice.
Denny made a comment, during the last mile, about how this race gave Baltimore a whole new meaning for him. Before, it had been a place of doctors and hospital visits all regarding his cancer. Now, it was a place where he accomplished something huge-he just ran 7 miles, the longest run he had EVER done. Congratulations Denny, you did it! And congratulations to ALL of the Cancer to 5k survivors and volunteers!! Another successful race!
Me, Denny, and Colleen after the race
Paula took first place in the Female Survivor 20-29 group!!
Holly manning the tent!
Lindsey from the Ulman Cancer Fund, and Holly
Sister Love!
Team photo-take one
Running in support of Helen, a past participant who is still fighting the cancer fight
Ta Da! The medals! We are a crafty lot 🙂
Overall this was an amazing experience. If you ever get the chance to pace a race for someone, whether it be a friend, stranger, or group, DO IT! It gave me a whole new perspective on running. It wasn’t all about *me* for once. It was about someone else, who also had goals they wanted to reach. And it reminded me that it’s not about how fast or slow you are, it’s about how far you’ve come to get to where you want to be! Congratulations, Cancer to 5k! Look how far you’ve come!
Heather Hart is an ACSM certified Exercise Physiologist, NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), UESCA certified Ultrarunning Coach, RRCA certified Running Coach, co-founder of Hart Strength and Endurance Coaching, and creator of this site, Relentless Forward Commotion. She is a mom of two teen boys, and has been running and racing distances of 5K to 100+ miles for over a decade. Heather has been writing and encouraging others to find a love for fitness and movement since 2009.
Marlene
Congratulations to Denny and all the other survivors/finishers! What a wonderful event.
Sounds like quite the experience and the scenery was great too.
Nice medals!
IzzyBubbles
What a great post! That looked like a super fun weekend despite the setbacks you mentioned. Isn’t Baltimore a great place? I’ve only been there once, but loved it. I’m glad your weekend went so well! It’s truly inspiring to see what you and your sister have done for cancer survivors.
Mel -Tall Mom on the Run
AMAZING!! Helping someone cross the finish line, WOW!!
FYI I do the same thing with cranes, backhoes, dump trucks, etc.. It is a Mommy thing..
Congrats, you have inspired me to find a way to give back.
FYi love the Bloggy makeover..
HEATHER
Thanks everyone! Izzy, all the credit goes to Holly and her volunteers, all I did was show up race day!!
Croughwell
What a great thing for you to do!!!
Run DMT
Great race report! What a wonderful event to be part of! I will look for one in my area.
It’s nice to see I’m not the only crazy runner taking pics while running. LOL I love the cranky crane comment! That is totally something I would say!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Visit me again soon. I’m adding you to my blog roll. 🙂
Kelly's runner
Heather,
What a great cause. I am so glad you got the chance to do this. Totally different perspective on running. Thanks for all you are doing to support others and carry the fight to cancer!!!
Catharine
Great report, Heather! I am so glad you came up here for this.
Thanks for the great pics. The one of my backside made me laugh. So that’s what I look like from behind (no pun intended). 🙂
Mama
What a cool experience! Great pictures.
MCM Mama