Koon's Care 5K Run

In Ripley, this morning the kids ran a small 5K/10K to raise money for a local scholarship fund. They were all happy and excited before the beginning of the race. It was pretty humid this morning so it was a tough race without the hills that they had to run.

The kids posed together for a picture before the race.

The start of the race. Alec finishes strong in his 5K. He almost won a trophy today, but they only gave out trophies for the top finisher in each group. Macain beat him and won the trophy.

Kirsten ran a fast final tenth of the race, but it was not her fastest. She did win the 1st place trophy because Martha won the FIRST OVERALL FEMALE!

Brandon ran the 10K race and finished 5th overall and 1st in his age group. He also was 3rd male overall and won two trophies to go along with his finisher medal.

The start of the fun run -- Preston ran and Macain and Brandon wanted to run it with him.

Kirsten with her trophy. Way to go !!!

Brandon shows off his medal and trophies.

Tie-Dye 5K

We had a very foggy, gloomy morning for a race. But when we saw these unique trophies, our spirits lifted a little.

The Tie-Dye race staff wants this race to be known as wacky and I think these trophies certainly fit that description.

I did not walk down to the start of the race. Instead I decided to take pictures as the runners came past me. You can see the fog still on the ground, but that did not dampen the spirits of the more than 330 racers.

Alec comes into the finish line (slower than he planned -- 27:10, I think) but we had already seen that most runners were a little slower than normal.

Claire decided to sprint past 4 competitors in the last tenth of a mile. She really turned on the speed and made us all cheer even louder.

Kirsten did not have a very good race. She wasn't even going to run this one but I told her that she either had to run the race or run three miles at home. She made the wise decision to run the race and now realizes just how much speed her broken arm has cost her. She has two running camps coming up this summer and I am sure with all the extra practice that she will get back her speed soon.

Claire, Alec, and Kirsten pause for a picture in their "wacky" hats.

Alec is proud that the race is over.

Kirsten wanted a picture in her hat because I failed to get one of her the year before.

Several Spartan girls pose with their hats.

Scott and Brandon love these "lip whistles".

Brandon -- aka the "white Kenyan" (so-named by my brother) won his age division again.

Art Class with Mrs. Vicky

Yesterday was the girls' last art lesson for the spring session. They love to take art and are always sad when it is over. They love Mrs. Vicky!

Mrs. Vicky takes a picture with her girls. Scarlett was sick with poison ivy and could not make yesterday's lesson.

Kirsten with her latest canvas project. She loves to paint on canvas and does a great job.

The Gumtree 10K

This morning was a BEAUTIFUL morning for a race. It made me almost want to sign up on the spot and run the race. I had way to much fun watching and cheering to run.

The race consisted of over 900 people (there were 200-300 people who participated in the 2K event -- including Lisa and Preston, who ran the whole race without stopping).

Sherrie and her husband, Don - pictured below - had a small challenge to each other to see who would come in first. I, of course, was rooting for Sherrie, but afraid that Don would come in first simply because men can usually run faster than women; especially when pride is at stake. I am proud to say that Sherrie ran faster and won the challenge -- she ran a very fast 47:00 and finished 2nd in her age group.

Roan always looks so refreshed and happy -- even at the end of a six mile race. She is a true joy to be around and I am always proud of her accomplishments.

Alec did not have a good run today. He has been coughing the last couple of days and I probably should have made him sit this one out, but he was determined to run anyway. He finished 5th in his age group but his time was way off of last week -- 1:05:56. After getting home, he crashed and took a nap. When he got up, I noticed that he was running a fever. So, I guess that is why he did not have a good race. We are proud of him for persevering through not feeling well.

Kirsten ran a respectable 1:20:20 and finished 20th in her age group. We were hoping for better but she has also been coughing for two days and struggled to breathe for part of the race. She also has not run but three other times in 6 weeks, due to recovering from her broken arm. We are proud of her also for sticking it out and finishing with a smile on her face.

Three of our young Spartans stacked the field in the 10 and under group and won all three trophies. We had lots of runners and several parents run this race. It is amazing to watch them all -- the fast and the not so fast, the young and the not so young. These special people give it their all every week and I enjoy watching them all run.

Brandon won first in his age group, with a time of 47:25. We expect big things out of this little guy with big talent.

Relay for Life 5K

Ms. Heather coaches her runners for the start of this fun night race.

On the starting line... we had some eager runners to get the show on the road. Four out of the top 5 finishers were Spartans -- Zack finished 1st with a time of 19:45; Forrest finished 2nd with a time of 20:15; Landers finished 4th with a time of 21:38; and Brandon finished 5th with a time of 21:51. All the runners (that I heard) enjoyed the course and most had a great finish. Alec had one of his fastest times and finished with a time of 24:47. Kirsten had a very respectable finish of 30:47 -- this is only the third time she has run since breaking her arm and is her first race back. In other news -------- WE FINISHED SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yesterday. We are very excited around here and celebrated by eating at Mi Pueblo last night. We spent some of our day today at one of our church member's houses picking up sticks and limbs from the storm. She didn't have much damage to her house but her yard was a total mess. A total of 4 trees landed on her house but thankfully there was only minor damage. It will take weeks to clean up her yard.

It's Flooding Around Here!! But We Are OKAY

This is a picture of the bridge that leads to our walking track. It was completely covered with water and flowing debris. If you look closely you can see the benches almost covered with water.

The bathroom at the track was dry, but all around it was covered.

This picture is of the drag strip that is 1/4 mile from our house. It appears to have a total of 10 feet of water covering the track.

This field (yes, it used to be a field) was planted last month and little plants were showing through yesterday.

A whole row of power poles were knocked down at First Monday yesterday in the tornado that touched down in Ripley.

These buildings were also knocked over yesterday during the storm.

This picture shows how high the water was in Ripley at their walking track. I estimate it to be at least 6 feet high.

This roof was taken off a building in Ripley and landed in the parking lot of Mi Pueblo.

Coca-Cola 10K in Corinth, Mississippi

What a yucky day for a race! It started out storming and rainy and under a tornado watch, but the weather conditions were fair during the race.

Alec, Parker, and Carson get ready to run their first 10K ever.

Noelle, Tyler, Alec, and Brandon are excited for the race to begin. Preston wasn't too sure about this picture. Ms. Heather and her Blue Mountain team and some of the Spartan team are talking race strategy right on the starting line. And they're off with the Kenyans taking the early lead and never relinquishing the lead. It was fun to see them run. They were running a sub 5 minute pace all the way to the 5 mile mark. The leader finished somewhere around 31 minutes. I have never run a 5K under that time, let alone a 10K.

This is the winner of the race! He was super fast and finished with a time of 31:20.

Brandon blew our expectations out of the water and finished 54th overall (out of 714 runners) in 46:10 on his first 10K ever. He maintained a 7:27 pace throughout the race. He had never run the full distance before today, but that did not slow him down any.

Alec did not walk one step the whole race. We are so proud of him. He had only run 4 miles before and did not know what to expect about the 6.2 mile distance. He finished at 57:49 and was 239th out of 714 runners. He maintained a 9:20 mile.

Kirsten and Alec pose with this "cool" Coca-Cola truck. Kirsten has not run much since she broke her arm, and we did not want this distance to be her first race back.

Brandon receiving his first place trophy in the 5-9 male category.