San Diego Rock'n'Roll Half-Marathon

My daughter Clara and I started training in February to run the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Half-Marathon. On June 2, we completed the event in 2:20 minutes (a respectable time, averaging 11 minutes per mile, though I would have preferred to finish under 2:15). This is us after completing the event. We each received two medals - one for finishing and one for being a charity runner. Can you see the pride on our faces?
We finished around around 9:30 a.m., but our day started much earlier - 3:00 a.m. to be precise.

We went down to the lobby to meet our team and catch the shuttle bus to the start line.

The entire festivities had actually started the day before when we checked in at the expo and got everything ready for our run.

And, of course, the reason we did the run was to raise money to fight leukemia and lymphoma and honor those who have battled the disease. I wrote the names of my honorees on my shirt, and we attended an inspiration dinner which recognized our contributions.

{This is my candle for the Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt}

Team in Training members from around the country participating in the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon raised 4.2 million dollars to fund research into finding treatment for leukemia and lymphoma; the Silicon Valley/Monterey Bay Chapter raised about $360,000; our Santa Cruz team raised about $65,00 of that; and Clara and I raised almost $7,000!  We contributed and were part of something bigger.  

Clara and I began this journey because of Paul's illness.  We became Team "Running for Dad" because we wanted to take some control of the situation and do what we could to help.  As is so often the case, what we got out of the experience, what we learned, how we grew individually and in our relationship, what we received was far greater than what we contributed.