Spiderman Fights Cancer

On Saturday, we all had the great opportunity of volunteering at and running in a 5K to raise money for a little boy with cancer. His name is Austin and he's three years old. He loves Spider-Man and he finds courage and strength from his hero. He has different Spider-Man toys that help him deal with the effects of chemotherapy and other painful things he's had to go through. Austin and his family have gone through so much and I was inspired by their strength and the sweetness of this little boy.

I had planned to wake up and go and help out while my sister, Kristine, ran. But, while I was getting ready, Gary decided he would run the 5K (because he can just do that!) and I would keep any boys with me who wanted to help out at the "headquarters" for the race. I am not "allowed" to get any new bruises and so I sat this race out. :) Also, I'm in terrible shape and would have come in dead last, as in, the police car following the last person would have had to give me a lift to the finish line.

So, we frantically got everyone ready and were out the door with time to spare and take some fun pictures.

Gary pushed THREE boys in the stroller. Spencer took a nap for much of the race and Ryan and Benjamin looked at the beautiful view of the mountains and the lake while Gary pushed them up and down many very steep hills.

Spider-man fights cancer, and runs 5K's!!

Kristine's pre-race training session with Ben as her trainer. "Lift those knees! Don't forget to breathe!"

The Crew

The Actual Runner and the Fruit Cutter/Medal Hander-Outer

The Cutest Couple Ever!! (Even if Gary has a strange Michael Jackson glove on. :)
Whoo! C'mon girl! Hee Hee!

Andrew, ready to pass out medals to the runners. He stayed behind with me because, as much as he truly wanted to run, it might have been a little tough and he didn't fit in the stroller. So, he stayed with me and we had so much fun cutting up oranges and bananas for the runners and handed out the super cool Spider-Man Medals.

Spencer's First 5K!! That's gotta be some kind of record!

Kristine the Triumphant!
She ran to help raise money for Austin, the boy fighting cancer. She also ran in memory of our friend, Michelle, who died of cancer almost two years ago. She just ran in the Long Beach Marathon a few weeks ago and so she was still very sore, but still ran this race!!

Gary's "A" for Austin. The race started at 9:30 and he decided at 8:30 that he'd run it. I would have had to train for YEARS!! I guess you can do that when you're a track coach on the side. . . a dang handsome one!!

We all had a great time and were very inspired by this family's strength and faith. It was so great to teach our boys about service and compassion and to have such a wonderful experience as a family. We hope and pray for the very best for this sweet little boy.