fried|kristy: And Then There Were Two

Remember when I said I wanted to run another 5k? Did you believe me? Be honest. You thought I’d slack off, right? It’s ok. I forgive you for doubting me. (I’m kidding! I’ve been humbled by all your support!)
Well, 5k #2 was on October 9th in Iowa City, and it was awesome. Even more awesome was the cause I was running for – raising funds and awareness for clubfoot research. Of course, you’ve read the last post and know all about why it’s a cause that’s personal to my husband and myself. So this particular race held a special place in my heart.
My hubby and I turned the roadtrip into a mini-getaway for the two of us. My awesome mother-in-law stayed with the boys, and Josh and I headed out the night before the race. We headed over to the University of Iowa campus to pick up my race packet and then went to our hotel. I had looked for one that would be a little different and fun. I didn’t even guess how “different” it was going to be. Turns out, the whole place was “themed.” And the decor? Well, it was entertaining. ;)
The sign on the door to our suite…

View from our balcony over the indoor pool and restaurant area.

Portrait of a knight (of course).

View of our room. The loft suite. The bed is upstairs.

We forgot to get a picture of the “stained glass windows” (as they’re advertised) that were actually regular windows with tape on them in the shape of diamonds… Yes, really. Don’t get me wrong, it was clean and nice – but the themed stuff just made us laugh!
The next morning, we headed over to campus and met up with my sister-in-law, Amber, who ran with me.
(Be warned, the following pictures feature me in running tights – I apologize in advance)
I made a pin to wear during the race. I wanted to have Austin close to my heart while I ran.

Amber and I warming up after hearing from a couple of the doctors from the clinic and Dr. Ponseti’s sweet widow.

A view of registration and the inside of the UI Recreation Building.

Ready to Run!

Herky and the cheerleaders came out to cheer us on.

And we’re off!

And here we come around the bend to the finish!

And we even had enough energy for a little ‘jump for joy’ before we crossed the finish line ;)

We actually improved our time by about 30 seconds from our first 5k. I was especially happy with that because I’d been incredibly sick just before this race and hadn’t been able to run for 2 weeks. I got a couple runs in before race day, but was worried I’d be really slow. But we did well! And even had to truck up some serious hills in this run!
After the race…Amber was ravenous. ;)