WillPower 5K

Brian and I (and the boys in their double BOB) ran the WillPower 5K on Saturday morning.

Here's a little summary on Will and his race:

Nashville's newest 5K run is inspired by 13 yr old Franklin resident Will NeSmith.

In June 2012, while away at summer camp, Will suffered a spontaneous brain hemorrhage -- an event that occurs in less than 1% of the population.

Surgeons saved his life, but Will's brain suffered traumatic injuries during the event. Following surgery, Will endured 59 days in the hospital. After weeks in a coma, Will emerged only to learn that he had to rehabilitate his brain and body to perform nearly everything -- from walking to talking. 

The WillPower 5K was created by Will and his supporters to raise funds for Will's long-term rehabilitation and awareness for the genetic condition, HHT, that led to his brain bleed.

The son of Carter's preschool teacher is one of Will's best friends.

So to support him (and "the cause" - Brian's dad had a brain aneurysm a few years ago), we decided to all run in the 5K.

The boys and I decorated the stroller on Friday to make it look a little like a pirate ship (The Jolly Rylan Carter) and at least Carter was willing to wear his hat and hook.

We got LOTS of attention :)

Here's Will!  He got to shoot the starting pistol from up there.

I haven't run a 5K in a very long time (I've only been doing long races lately) and never before with the stroller.  I set a goal for myself of 25 minutes but killed myself and ran it in 23:42!!!  I was seriously dying at the end though.

And I ended up placing!  I was the second place female in my age category (30-34) and the 12th place female overall.  I think over 1,000 people registered with over 700 finishing the race.

The boys did great during the run which helped a lot.  They never asked for snacks and didn't talk to me much (it's hard to have a conversation during a race).  Plus there was no "I have to pee" (or "poop") from Carter which would have been awful!

Brian did awesome too!  He has not been running much lately and took almost 1 1/2 minutes off his time since his last 5K (that he ran on New Years Day).

We stuck around the square and waited for awards.

Everyone that placed in their age groups got these nice little plaques.

This was a really, really well run race (especially for being the inaugural year).  I believe one of Will's uncles owns a running store in Florida and has a lot of experience with organizing races.

After the awards we had to race off to Carter's soccer pictures and game!  We are always so busy lately!!!