To check out pictures from the 1st Annual Run for Hope 5K – Click Here!

I will admit that the few days leading up to race day, I was nervous, stressed, and driving everyone crazy, namely Jim. I had been up till 1am for almost 6 days straight working on the details and getting everything ready, but the lack of sleep was starting to effect me. Yet on race morning, I woke up feeling energized and ready to run myself 🙂 I was excited to see how the day would turn out.

We had 140 registered 5k runners going into Saturday and not really sure how many more people would come and register the day of. We also had 36 1-milers registered. We surpassed our goal of 125 so I was excited.

Mattie was the star of the day getting her photograph taken with the runners and meeting all the amazing people who came out to run in her race. The morning went by so fast. Before I knew it, the awards were given out and we were cleaning up. The feed back we received was great. We also had some great advice given to us for next year’s race.

Here are our final numbers:
168 – 5K Registered
49 – 1 Milers Registered

We were able to raise a total of $5,160, over $2,500 more than our goal. You can’t even imagine just how blessed we feel. It looks like we will be heading back to California sooner than we thought! With the results we are seeing everyday with Mattie, I just know that even more progress can be made with another trip on the horizon.

We owe a huge thank you to Mindy and Jennifer for coming up with the idea and moving forward with it. If it was not for the two of you, this day would have never happened. To everyone who sponsored, volunteered, ran, walked, supported, donated and just sent good thoughts our way…thank you for supporting our family. YOU are the reason for Mattie’s progress and we will forever be grateful.

With love and hope,
JJJM