Long Beach Marathon 2012!

Well here I am 5 years later, a little older, a lot slower, and very happy. This year the NF Endurance Team hit the Long Beach Int'l Marathon, and I was there to serve as a Team Captain for my 5th year in a row. I doubt that really surprises anyone, but the real icing on this year's cake was my Dad ran the 5K with me! Yes, he put down the cigarettes, laced up his running shoes, and used his long lean legs to lope just a bit in front of me all the way to a huge finish! I was so proud of him, he really is built to be a runner and I hope he continues to RuNFor a Reason... ME haha, ok and JT. Speaking of JT, my amazing lil' man once again smashed the Aquarium of the Pacific Kids' Fun Run along with his friend and teammate Haley Cruz. The kids did a wonderful job, and Mica did her part shaking her yellow NF Endurance Team Bell as loud as she could while we all cheered JT and Haley to a strong finish!

I met several new friends, and we welcomed another family into our close-knit team. Team eNouF kicked fundraising booty this year, and it was great to meet another group of passionate people working hard for a cure.

On top of all of this, my parents booked an amazing 2 bedroom suite overlooking the quiet gray pacific. In between networking and team duties, we were able to sneak away "just us 6" for some much needed family time. Paul worked hard all weekend loading, unloading, carrying, setting up, and just generally helping wherever he could. As I said during my talk at the annual Team Pasta Dinner, thank you Paul, you are my best friend and I love you. (awwww, mushmush)

So to conclude... yes finally... it was a wonderful weekend, I was able to see people I adore, raise money for a great cause, cross a finish line with my Daddy and cheer for my only son as he did what he does every time, make me so incredibly proud of who he is.

You can check out an article I was interviewed for in the Long Beach Press Telegram here: http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_21720894/long-beach-marathon-participants-had-reason-run
You can see our fundraising page, and if you are so inclined, we are of course still taking donations. In fact, we will be until a cure is found HA
http://ctf.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1008232#.UHT6awtqmOw.facebook
And finally, you can see all the photos I took here! Why are my children painted as zombies?? They sat for a make up session to earn Momma some free tickets to a Zombie Festival! Minions come in handy these days...

NF Endurance Team Photos!