ourboys 5k/10k 2012 recap

Wow. Always an emotional day, this one was no different.  First and foremost thank you to everyone who came out on a brisk Saturday morning to volunteer, run and cheer!!!!

The day started out with a surprise for Brandon and Jeremy for their now traditional pace car drive.  Jeremy as always talked that he wants a red Camaro when he gets older so we put out a request for anyone that may be willing to participate.  A friend of a friend stepped forward and we had our red Camaro!  Big thank you to JK for spending time on Saturday morning driving ourboys around the 5k course.  The fun run finished with some strong times with 1st place going to Jacob Bullock, 2nd place going to Robert Craig Jr.  We lined up for the start of the race shortly before 8:30am.  We had several groups of runners to recognize, a large group of Harris Road Middle school staff and students, a running group of students from Forest Park Elementary in Kannapolis and a running club from Countryside Montesorri.  We thanked our sponsors Mary Ballantine State Farm Agency, Team Carneglia Real Estate, Ryan Foot and Ankle Clinic, Fleet Feet Huntersville, Vitamin Water, Niagra Bottling, Odell Rec Sports.  We had to make a quick announcement that would prove to be quite ironic about some of our younger participants crowding the front of the starting line and tried to move them back a little bit to make run for the faster runners.  Then we were off!!!!  With perfect running weather(maybe not ideal spectator weather, it seemed to get a little colder as the morning went along) we waited for our first finishers.  Amazingly as we saw the lead runners we noticed the top two runners in view were actually going 10k!  From my vantage point I had a view of the battle with Mason Padgett right on the heels of Chas Willimon all the way through the turnaround.  Meantime Mike Ham was winning the 5k with a time of 19:20.  Here is our ironic turn, the 2nd and 3rd place runners were 15yr old Ethan Pestyk at 20:26 and 13yr old Jacob Ryan at 21:26!  Top 3 females in the 5k were Amy Johnson at 21:28, Susan Grewell at 21:35 and 12 year old Riley Axe at 25:11.   Ten of our top 17 finishers in the 5k were under the age of 15!!!!!!!   Mason Padgett won the 10k in 38:48 with Chas Willimon 2nd with a time of 39:31.  Robert Craig rounded out the top three men’s 10k in 43:10.  Cheryl Todd won the ladies 10k with a time of 44:12.  Rebecca Bocker at 45:54 and Tara Owens at 46:28 rounded out the top female finishers at the 10k distance.  Full results here:  https://queencitytiming.com/results/default.aspx?event=11881&r=2451

Meanwhile there were a couple of cool things going on.  For the last few weeks Jennifer Cavanaugh, Brandon’s assistant at school, and some of his classmates have been working hard supporting this event(along with Ann Wright) by making signs, making bracelets and making Braille bookmarks with Brandon at lunchtime.  Saturday they brought the Braille writer outside to our event, Brailling bookmarks for people.  Thank you to Terri Bunn for her support as well.  There was a pretty good crowd around the table, we joked about labor laws and that we were working Brandon’s fingers to the bone!

A very special presentation from a classmate of Jeremy’s also happened during the race.  Gina presented us an envelope of $142 for BDSRA, proceeds from a bake sale that she did during the community garage sale last weekend!!!!!  Thank you Gina!

Remember, if you ran this event you were automatically entered into the ROC points series.  www.rocseries.com

It is truly a fun day despite all the hard work involved, we always enjoy visiting with old friends and new and being able to say thank you to all that attend.   The only regret is that we aren’t able to spend more time with you!!!

Finally, keep an eye out on the photopage at http://jrbphotos.smugmug.com/Spirituality/ourboys/22630623_BZnsKN

Thank you for supporting us with your time, energy and prayers!!

ourboys 5k/10k 2012 is almost here

Here are a few event details:

The start and finish lines will be in the bus parking lot at Harris Road Middle School. 1251 Patriot Plantation Boulevard, Concord, NC 28027.  Event Parking will be available in the visitor and staff parking lot of the school.  Overflow parking is available next door at WR Odell Elementary School.

Event packets may be picked up at Harris Road Middle School on Friday 4/27 from 5-8pm or on Saturday 4/28 beginning at 7am.

Queen City Timing uses Chrono Track D-Tag.  For more information see http://www.queencitytiming.com/our-services/chronotrack.htm.  These chips are disposable so there will be no need to collect them after the race.

Run numbers will be issued at packet pickup or on the morning of the event.  Your run number must be displayed on the front of your body during the race, especially at the finish of the race.

Fun run will occur on the school track at 8am.  The 5k and 10k will begin together at 8:30am.

5k course:  The course Is a large loop on residential streets.  Follow this link for a course map and elevation:  http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/70644306.

10k course:  Turnaround will occur in the bus lot near the starting line and reverse the 5k course.

The 5k awards presentation will begin immediately after the last finisher completes the 5k race (estimated to be 9:30) and the 10k awards will also follow shortly after the last finisher completes the 10k.  You must be present to collect your award, or arrange to have someone pick it up for you.  AWARDS WILL NOT BE MAILED OUT.

Queen City Timing posts their results the day of the race.

Photography provided by JRB Portraits.  Email at jrbportraits@gmail.com

Photos will be posted at the following website after the event: http://jrbphotos.smugmug.com/Spirituality/ourboys/22630623_BZnsKN

Thank you to our supporters: Mary Ballantine State Farm Agent, Team Carneglia Real Estate, Ryan Foot and Ankle Clinic, Fleet Feet Huntersville, Vitamin Water, Niagara Beverage, Odell Rec Sports, Harris Road Middle School, and Moss Creek Village. 

Special Olympics Spring Games 2012 part 2

Wow.  I am sure that there are marathon runners out there that don’t feel as emotionally drained as I do after two days of Special Olympics.  Today was a doozy.  I happened to be at Jeremy’s school this morning signing some IEP paperwork, all my special needs peeps can relate, and witnessed the traditional WR Odell parade of Special Olympics athletes.  All the classrooms stood in the hallway and cheered as the athletes walked by.  I was tearing up and was glad to notice other adults doing the same.  You know who you are, I won’t call you out by name.   That is what I LOVE about WR Odell students and staff!  Then I had to go out and watch Jeremy proudly march in to introductions of all the schools.  He was very nervous and it showed on his face several times during the day, but I was very proud of him that even when he got third place he didn’t go into melt down mode which has happened in the past.  He also earned two gold medals for his 25m run and 50m fast walk.  He had a great day!!!! Special thank you goes out to all the volunteers, sponsors and Emily Riley and her staff that made these two days possible, they are and always will be special and are two of my favorite days of the year!  Big props to Austin and the boys from Faith Christian Academy who worked with Brandon yesterday and Mark from Central Cabarrus High who worked with Jeremy today.  Thank you to Mrs Singh, Mrs. Bunn and Mr. Ian who was playing in pain today, it’s tough getting old.  

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Special Olympics Spring Games 2012

Today was Brandon’s Special Olympics day, both boys look forward to the Spring Games every year.  We arrived to a cold, overcast and somewhat windy day, which was fine by us.  Brandon seems to overheat easily and we didn’t have to worry about it at all.  It is special to see friends, family members and classmates from the past as well.  Opening ceremonies today included a special ops parachute team from Fort Bragg called The Black Daggers which was cool.  Brandon was up early and excited but nervous all at the same time.  He got silver medals in all three events.  The wheelchair event was the most exciting as he got bumped by the kid next to him, or as we call it here in NASCAR country “trading paint.”  Always an emotional day for me, and guess what, we get to do it all over again tomorrow with Jeremy!  

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Spring Break is here

The boys are on spring break this week, which is always fun.  Brandon is always saying “What’s next?” in trying to decide what he wants to do.  We have switched from Beyblades to older video games.  Caregivers get to play MarioKart and Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube…….They are cross eyed usually by the time I get home!  Big thanks to Crystal, Brendon, Madison and Matt so far this week for hanging with the boys.  They are asking a lot of questions about the 5k and hearing me on the phone making plans.

Knock on wood, we have had no seizure or behavior issues recently with the boys.  Just very noticeable decline in vision again for both boys but mainly Jeremy.

Please make plans to come out and say hello on April 28th if you can, we would love to have walk, run, volunteer, or just stop by and say hi!

Register: http://www.queencitytiming.com/search/event.aspx?event=7c52c883-f961-4317-9bb0-aa7a88958ba0.aspx

Donate: https://queencitytiming.com/Fundraising/?event=7529

Moments like this

are what I really appreciate as a father these days.  This is before the race and Jeremy was a little nervous and excited.  He is so ULTRA competitive that he always wants to win at every thing he does.  I am a little saddened because he got so very tired by the end of the 5k that I don’t think I will be able to let him walk or run any more of these races, but I hope to continue participating with him by pushing him in a chair.

Huge thanks to the folks that put on Run the Creek 5k last Saturday for giving me the opportunity to make these special memories……..

Family Portraits benefitting the BDSRA

When is the last time you have gathered your family together for a professional family portrait?  When have you contributed to a great cause that helps children and families?  What if I told you that you could kill two birds with one stone?  Time is running out, please visit Anne Zirkle Photography’s website http://apzphotography.com  and contact her to book a mini session on March 17th at Hunting Creek Farms http://www.huntingcreekfarms.com/gallery/gallery-pg1.php in Hamptonville NC.  Read about Anne’s inspiration at her blog post: http://apzphotography.com/2012/02/for-my-friend/

waiting for the bus

Road race to fund Batten Disease research

Road race to fund Batten Disease research.

Odell Rec Sports Rocks!!!

A huge thank you to Odell Rec Sports for partnering with us on ourboys 5k/10k.  I am headed over to their spring signups at Dick’s Sporting Goods to say thank you in person and hand out flyers.  They are moving all their games later in the morning on our race day to allow their athletes and families an opportunity to attend or volunteer at our race if they choose.  Jeremy played soccer with the organization before his eyesight made it difficult to play and he really enjoyed it.   Visit them at www.odellsports.com.  Signups are today and the next 2 Saturday’s from 9am-1pm at Dick’s Afton Ridge, also next Saturday from 9am-1pm at Harris Road Middle School, February 21, 6pm – 8pm at Boger Elementary School gym lobby, and February 23, 6pm – 8pm at Furr Elementary School gym lobby.