Run for Mercy 2006-07

Lewis and Clark, St. Charles, MO, 2006
Had the privilege of having ultra marathoner Dean Karnazes as our Pasta Party keynote speaker. It was a huge honor to have him speak to us before the first of his “50 marathons in 50 days” feat! I ran with my good friend and running mentor, Mary Ann Thomas. It was a very emotional race as I was running for Mercy in memory of my daughter, Amber, who went to be with Jesus on June 24 of that year. The Mercy girls were scattered throughout the race route cheering us on. I kept a picture of Amber in my mind and visualized girls who are captive being set free. If they could break free and overcome immense obstacles, I could finish the race!

Country Music Marathon, Nashville, TN, April 2007.
My goal was to beat my Land C time and run the race in under two hours. I was confident that I could do it, especially since I had my Nike iPod chip in my shoe that had Lance Armstrong’s voice encouraging me on. Little did I realize that I had failed to calibrate my stride with my Nike chip in order to get an accurate mileage count. I finished the race ten minutes slower than my Land C time and I felt like a loser. Then I remembered that I was running the race to raise $ for Mercy and that things don’t always turn out the way you think they will. Kyle and I raised about $3,000. My good friend Carol Bridges also ran her first half marathon for Mercy.