August Races!

I did two fun organized races/run this August, one of them being the Minnesota Half Marathon which raised money for childhood leukemia, a cause near and dear to our hearts. I may or may not have posted in here before about our friends the Andersons who have a son named Jude. Jude has been fighting an aggressive form of leukemia since he was 18 months old. He turned three in April and has been in MN since May for a bone marrow transplant. That went very well but then cancer was found again so the family are now in Seattle trying a new treatment that did not even exist 2-3 years ago. If he was in this situation he is now 2 years ago they would likely be setting up hospice care for him. It is a very heartbreaking time for the Andersons and anyone who know them BUT they have an amazing team of Dr's, caretakers, friends and family who have supported them throughout this fight. They also have amazing attitudes and Jude is so strong! He is going to beat those blood monsters! From Seattle they will come back to MN to celebrate an uncle's wedding and gather their things before moving back home to Tucson, AZ. There will be another trip to Seattle in there too. Okay so I tried to make that long story somewhat short...here are some pictures from the half marathon! Jude's mom and I ran the beginning and end of the run together. 

It was a beautiful day and Linnea got to race too! 

There were a few MN sports teams mascots there for the kids run too :)

Go Linnea!

Daddy Daughter run! Linnea was ahead but I think they finished side by side!

me and my girls post run and before splashing around :)

I took the girls to a new beach after we had lunch at home. 

The other run I did was on my own and it was a 10 mile trail run. Not a crazy trail run tho, a very flat one out and back along the Mississippi in Mendota Heights. It was very small but very fun and pretty! I love the new bright pink shirt I got for running it and would have loved my free beer at Lucky's 13 but since I wasn't with anyone I knew and we were heading out of town asap once I returned home I decided to skip it.

me before

The scenery along the way.

me right before the end with an important message on the sign behind me.

This race raised money and awareness for mental illness and emphasized how important it is to break the stigma and feel comfortable talking about mental health/illness. I have quite a few friends and family members who struggle daily with depression and anxiety and I hope someday they will not feel so alone.