My First 5k!

Some photos from my first 5k – the Race for Hope DC! It was so well organized, there were a TON of people there! Before the race, they had all of the survivors of brain cancer/brain tumors walk past all the runners to the starting line, it was really touching. I am sure that some day Jackson will be among those survivors!

Here’s a view of the crowd from the starting line. If you squint, you can see the Capital building!

Here I am! It was so humid that my hair was frizzy before we even started running.

With my friend Mary who was nice enough to get up early and run with me! Mary’s been running a bit longer than I have, she just ran the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler last month. She was also nice enough to go slooooowly and stay with me and my bum ankle!

I managed to run about half of the race, but after that my ankle hurt way too much, and I kind of hobbled the rest of the way. But, I made it across the finish line!  I won’t embarass myself by disclosing my time… suffice it to say that it was much slower than I’ve been running 5ks around the neighborhood recently. Oh well! Hopefully my ankle will heal quickly and I can run another race soon. There’s one right down the street on June 6! 🙂

Heartbreak and Hope

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m running my first 5k in May – The Race for Hope.  The race is a fundraiser benefiting the National Brain Tumor Society and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure. I’ll be completely honest, when I signed up for the 5k, I did so because it was the one that worked best with my C25K training schedule.

A few weeks ago, though, I started reading the The Dundon’s Nest. It’s a blog written by a mom in my area. She and her husband have two adorable little boys – Jackson is 2 1/2 and Mason is 4 months. In January, she noticed that Jackson was having trouble with his balance, so they took him to the doctor and then to Children’s Hospital here in DC.  An MRI revealed a parent’s worst nightmare – a tumor on Jackson’s brain stem.

Jackson is a HUGE Washington Capitals fan, and tshirts designed after their logo are for sale at CafePress to raise money for his treatment. I ordered one, and then I emailed his mom, Kristin, and told her that I was running the 5k and that I’d like to do the run in honor of Jackson. Luckily, she was totally on board and sent me some of her favorite Jackson photos to share with everyone. Here’s the precious little boy who I will be running the 5k for:

Jackson and the whole Dundon family have been so brave and positive through this struggle. They are truly inspiring. He has gone through chemo and lost his hair, and this Thursday he has a follow-up MRI to see how the chemo is working. Please keep them in your thoughts on Thursday!

If you’d like to support Jackson by donating to the race you can do so by clicking here.

You can also join Jackson’s Facebook Support Group, or donate directly to his recovery fund:

The Jackson Dundon Recovery Fund
c/o Kerry Donley
609 N. Pickett Street
Alexandria, VA 22304