Hi everybody, Callie here! I know we keep doing vacation posts but I'm going to break us free of that for a moment so we can tell you about our weekend. Back in July we signed up to fundraise and run a 5K for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. It was this weekend!
We did some research and St. Jude is almost entirely funded by donations, and 81% of everything that is donated goes into treatment and research. St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend is one of their biggest fundraising events through the year, and this year over 20,000 runners helped bring in over $8 million (so far).
Basically my whole family came. Most of us were running but the folks who didn't decided to come too and cheer us on. We have a really big family so we had to come a few different ways, because getting everyone's schedule all timed right was really hard. Penny and I were part of the group that drove, and we got there first. Then we went to the airport where we picked up the group that Wrennie and Chloe came in!
Reunited and it feels so good!~ -Penny
I'm so glad we got to stay together! -Chloe
We headed right to the convention center to pick up our race day packets.
The "race" is actually five races and it's all put together by a running club in Memphis. There was the 5K that we did, a family fun run, a marathon relay, a half marathon, and a marathon.
Parking was really hard though because there were so many people. And traffic was really bad! But it was worth it. The convention center was right across from the great big pyramid that is really a Bass Pro, but it also gave us a chance to get a neat picture of the hospital in the dark.
Tri Delta Place, on the left, is where families can stay for up to a week without paying anything. There's also the Ronald McDonald House and Target House for longer stays. Because St. Jude never asks families to pay for treatment and housing, it takes *a lot* of money to run the hospital even for one day.
One of the emails they sent said like 2 million dollars or something like that. -Wrennie
We went to bed pretty early because we had to get up pretty early--5am!!! We had a hard time finding parking and it was *really* cold. But we got it done!
We checked our stuff and ran!! There was a really big crowd for the 5K, which started at 7am. The announcer was telling us about the little girl singing the national anthem, who was diagnosed at the age of 2 and who is now 12 and has been in remission from her time at St. Jude. After she sang and everyone cheered for her, the announcer told us that she was also his daughter!
She did a really good job! -Chloe
A 5K isn't very long--it's 3.1 miles!--and we didn't expect to see anybody, but there were a lot of people cheering us on. The roads were closed and people were even cheering from their cars even though they were on their way to work, or something.
It was long enough!! - Penny
Hey at least we warmed up? -Wrennie
During one part of the race we ran through the hospital campus and there were a lot of people cheering us on there. Some patients came outside with their families and staff and we got a lot of high fives and cheers. We had a lot of feelings and we kind of cried, lol. There were a lot of signs on the side of the highway from families of kids who didn't make it, all saying thank you and giving support, and there were a lot of people with "in memory of" tags on the back of their running clothes.
Everyone was so happy we were running. It didn't feel like we were doing that much but it was a lot to them. -Wrennie
There was an Elvis at the finish line singing to us to cheer us on and there was a band on stage right before we got to the hospital.
I would have been sad if there was no Elvis at a race in Memphis. - Penny
Sorry he's so blurry! I didn't want to slow down anymore than I had to -Wrennie
When we crossed the finish line, we got our medals:
There was even free soup and pizza! We snacked while we watched the other races! -Chloe
These are the mile markers which were used in the marathon. Even though the hospital isn't the ones who actually go through the ins and outs of putting the race together, the kids and staff at the hospital were all really involved. They came out to watch every race, these signs were decorated as mile markers, and the finish line had a mural on the street which was from the kids, too.
There were so many people, and so much music and loudspeakers to keep the runners' energies up that a lot of it seemed a little like an outdoor rock concert.
We thought it was a really good race and we want to come back next year for at least another 5K.
After our run and our super showers and huge breakfasts, we met up with some friends which you'll see in another post! Before the end of this one, though, I want to say something kind of funny that happened. We had a blowout on our way out of town!! We were heading to drop Wrennie and Chloe and Co. off at the airport when it happened.
The car shook like crazy! Maybe next year we don't shred the tire? -Chloe
It was kind of annoying but not too scary since we got help right away. The annoying part was finding a Firestone so we wouldn't have to drive all the way home for hours on our spare tire, but when we did... you guys... Barry Allen changed our tire.
He did it in a flash too! -Wrennie
Wrennie was clinging to me the whole time!! We knew we were in good hands. (Seriously though, he looks so much like Grant Gustin, who plays the Flash in the tv show.)
Well it wasn't like Chloe was in much better shape :p -Penny
Can you blame me!? -Chloe
Callie
Clothes
Callie:
Travel Outfit
Shirt, Skirt, and Shoes: AG Shimmer Doodle Outfit
Scarf: handmade Running Outfit
Shirt: AG Dallas Souvenir Shirt
Pants: Team USA Sparkle Outfit
Shoes & Socks: AG Go Team! Cheer Gear
Travel Outfit
Shirt: Flash Shirt from SewFunDollClothes
Skirt: My Life As
Shoes: Our Generation Stars & Stripes Sneaks
Running OutfitShirt: AG brand
Shorts: Springfield Collection Soccer Outfit
Shoes: AG brand
Penny:
Travel Outfit
Shirt: OG Dream On
Shorts: AG Grace's City Outfit
Leggings: AG Two-in-One Skating Set
Sweater: OG Jumping for Joy
Shoes: OG, but not listed on the website
Running Outfit
Shirt: AG Denver Souvenir Shirt
Shorts: AG Julie's 2 in 1 Summer Outfit
Socks: AG Doll Hospital
Shoes: AG Easy Breezy Outfit
Chloe:
Travel Outfit
Dress and Shoes: AG Lilac Dress
Running Outfit
Outfit: AG Feeling Great Outfit
I am so glad you went (or came, from my perspective) and had fun! It was brilliant!
ReplyDeleteWe had so much fun seeing you!! I think our next post is pictures from meeting you and your girls!
Delete<3 Penny