014. Girls on the Run 5K

I know I've been super lame about posting recently. I've started about 4 blogs that haven't finished. I've had a lot rolling around in my head lately. Add to that the fact that I've been super busy at work (which, let's be honest, is where I type up a lot of my blogs!) There will be a major coming soon. I promise.

In the mean time, I ran the Girls of the Run 5K this morning. It was seriously an amazing event! It was so awesome to see all these girls out there running with their parents and coaches and friends. It makes me want to get involved with the program even more! The race took place at Toyota Park which is home to the Chicago Fire and the Chicago Red Stars. I'm not a soccer fan at all (in fact it's quite possibly my LEAST favorite sport ever), but it was really cool to get to finish inside the stadium. I could only imagine how totally awesome it would be if I were 10 years old!

And now what you all really want...photos!!!

Walking up from my car. I got there about 45 minutes before start time and there were a TON of people there already!

Toyota Park main entrance.

The pink signs where the meeting places for the various program groups. There were over 50 schools represented. It was massive and totally awesome!

They had face-painting and tiara decorating. No, I didn't do either. I figured I'd save that for the girls.

We all know how important it is to warm up before a race. The three photos above are some girls getting their stretch on, the group leading the warm-up (two girls from Bally's Total Fitness, The Chicago Fire mascot Sparky, the Chicago Wolves mascot Skates, some superhero type guy, the Fox weather-woman Amy Freeze (Yes, that's actually her last name), and Ella Masar from the Chicago Red Stars.

The starting line. I made sure I was toward the front because I hate feeling like I'm going to step on someone!The sea of people behind me at the starting line. It was amazing how many people were there. You can't even see all the shorty kiddos that were there!

Here's the finish line inside the stadium. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to finish on the field, but the Fire does have a game tonight so we wouldn't wanna mess up the grass.Some of the runners coming around the final bend to the finish line.

They were broadcasting the finishes on the jumbo-tron which was pretty cool. Sadly my mom didn't come with me so there was no one there to take a picture of me finishing. It's cool though.

Here's my Operation Beautiful-ized race number. It says "You are STRONG! You are POWERFUL! You are BEAUTIFUL!" You are strong and you are powerful are both GOTR mantras.

Seriously, coolest.goodie-bag.ever! Awesome long sleeve t-shirt, some yummy mini-luna bars, ponytail holders, a GOTR/ New Balance water bottle (which is awesome since I can't find my water bottle!), and an issue of American Girl Magazine. I used to love AG Magazine. I subscribed to it forever!

Those are about half my pictures from the event. It was so awesome, and I will definitely be looking for a way to be more involved next year!

Oh, and as for how I did. I finished in 30:10 which is 40 seconds slower than my first 5K. I'm happy with it though. I was running alone, and my pacing was definitely a little off. I thought we were a lot closer to the finish than we actually were so I picked up the pace a little too early. Either way 30:10 is still a really great time so I'm happy about it. Besides, I knew it would be hard to be my first 5K time anyway!