Bellin Run 2011

Another successful and exciting Bellin run this year...

Originally I was not able to do the run, as we had a wedding to attend that Mario was standing up for in Chicago. I was supposed to leave at about 8am that day, but we (my good friend, Sara and I) decided to change plans to leave at 11:45 which would still give us enough time to make the wedding. After deciding this officially the week of the Bellin, I registered for the Bellin on Wednesday (and withheld that from my dad so I could surprise him Saturday morning).

Ben was also not going to be able to run this year due to his work schedule, but ended up calling me at 7:30 on Friday night asking what time he could register until and still run on Saturday. I looked it up and it turned out to be 8pm... Since he was still working and online registration was closed, I darted across town to Astor park and got him registered for Saturday's run with about 5 min to spare!

Erin & Ryan (and Owen) came up to stay with us Friday night and also to join in the running festivities. So, Saturday morning, we surprised our Dad with the news that both Ben and I were actually running the Bellin. : ) He was pretty excited to have his 3 kids running with him.

We all ran a great race. I was just glad to finish - after fighting off a side stitch the entire race. Thankfully I was able to keep up with Ben (or he slowed down to my level: either one), but we finished the race together at 52.39. One minute slower than last year, but I was still happy with it.

This is an after race picture. BIG Thank you to Lynn, Ben's girlfriend, who watched Audrey and Owen during the run for us. She's a keeper.

P.S. Your monitor is not dirty; this picture is blurry. Our camera does this every so often and with no rhyme or reason. We'll be investing in a new camera very soon.

After the Bellin, it was shower, pack, and off to Chicago to see our friend, Jason Nault, get married. Mario went with our good friend, Jed on Friday night and Sara & I drove down on Saturday. We had a GREAT time, but drank a bit too much wine. Wine hangovers are not fun.