she did it!

shoulders back, boobs out, does make
you look thinner!

Today was the Camelot for Children 5K on the Ironton Rail Trail. Bonnie is at Disney World, so I decided I was going to walk WITH Sharon, and help her finish. She hasn't finished the last two she tried. Her goal: Not to come in last. Okay, that's not true. Her goal was to finish. My goal was for her not to come in last. She's only finished one 5K before at 1:03:10. Yep, I looked it up.

So we arrived and parking is far away. So I dropped her off and she registered us in. Then I parked, hiked to the site, then hiked back to the car with our participation bags.

It was a nice setup. The runners lined-up and went right. The walkers (strollers and wheelchairs too), lined-up and went left. Never the two would meet. And we all went at the same time. Excellent. I bet there was as many walkers as runners.  So we start. It's a bit of a traffic jam at the beginning, and I start to pass people. Then I realize I've lost Sharon. We're not even a block from the start. So I slow down, but I needed to get around the man with one leg. Even walking slow, we should be able to beat a one-legged veteran in an Army shirt, right?

So we're together again, and I tell her flat out she needs to walk fast enough that we are not passed by people in wheelchairs, and people with only one leg. We are able-bodied for Pete's sake. I think she was unhappy with me. A minute later we were passed by a young girl in a wheel chair. But it was motorized so that doesn't count.

We're about a mile into it, not quite at the limestone kilns, and the EMT on a bike catches us. Asks if we're okay. Sharon is panting pretty hard, I had her moving. (Since Bonnie is "Jillian", I got to be "Bob".) I think she was offended by the EMT and kicked it up a notch. She even power walked, twice!

At the water stop she wanted to stop and rest. No resting during a 5K. I left her drink the water but that's it. We kept to the slower pace, but she seemed to be slowing down. At the half-way point we were 28 minutes.

We were within the last mile when some ladies stopped and asked if she was okay. She told them she was tired, but kept going on. They zoomed ahead. More people passed us including someone in a wheel chair. She said she was fine, but thirsty, the girl pushing her reaches into her bag and pulls out Vitamin Water and hands it to her.

it looks like she power walked it in!

Then the EMT comes back and follows her for a while. That really annoyed her. I tried to explain he was just doing his job, but you know Sharon. We were within 2 or 3 blocks of the finish line when she wanted to rest. I said no. The finish line was close. She could rest when she was done. When we were about a block away, I power walked it in, and she followed. There at the finish line waiting for her were the two ladies that pasted her. When she crossed the yelled and screamed and cheered like they knew her their whole lives. I didn't even get their names.

She asked why they did that. I explained people are nice. Of course, she thought it was weird.

My finish 58:07. Hers 59:28.

After snacks and a long rest, I walked up and got the car, picked her up and we headed for breakfast.