finishing chelsea’s run {first 5k}

for those who live in san diego county or for anyone who follows national news you might remember hearing about the tragic murder of poway’s chelsea king two years ago. chelsea went out to run around lake hodges after school one february afternoon and never returned home. poway, the city in which we reside, is such a close-nit city in the country type of town. we have never felt unsafe but when we learned of chelsea’s disappearance i do not believe there was a soul in this town that did not react. friends and neighbors were on the search team in the lake, people were placing blue ribbons on every tree, mailbox, building, shirt, etc. to hold out hope that she was still alive. that was until john gardner was arrested on suspicion and lead them to chelsea’s body. i cannot drive by the lake without looking at her final resting place without busting out in tears. our cousin, amanda, was in chelsea’s class and i vividly remember their graduation ceremony and how emotional we all were as her brother accepted her diploma. chelsea’s parents, brent and kelly king, have created chelsea’s light foundation, a legislative reform to bring awareness, education and other viable remedies to prevent sexual predators from harming our children.

when my friend janelle asked me if i wanted to run the second annual, finish chelsea’s run | 5k run/walk, i did not hesitate. i was actually sitting in the sprouts parking lot with the kids after a shopping trip as i was pondering the run/walk. could i do it? i had not ran since before payton. i glanced across the parking lot and saw a weathered blue ribbon staring right at me. tears started flowing from my eyes and at the exact moment i knew i had to do it. chelsea was there telling me i could do it. i went home and registered for the race and found myself with tessa and her mom at janelle & nelson’s house this past saturday ready to stand amongst thousands of fellow san diegans ready to finish chelsea’s run. when i picked up my race bib i looked around in complete awe, again tears swelled my eyes and at the moment i was proud to be a san diegan, proud to live in such a great county. her parents welcomed and thanked all of us for supporting their cause and remembering their daughter, providing them strength through the past two years and as they move forward. the race began and we slowly started to jog weaving in and out of our fellow racers. about half way through mile one we came around a corner just about to cross the bridge into balboa park, a band rooting us on playing the olympic theme. tessa and i being silly and then whack! i felt like my right foot hit a speed bump and then gravity pulled me closer to the ground. i skinned both my knees and my right shin pretty bad. i just kept laughing because it was only fitting that i would fall. i kept laughing because it was hilarious, especially in the moment. i shook it off and kept jogging/walking. it wasn’t until we jogged down the on-ramp to the 163 that my hip and my knees really started hurting (hips are still hurting from braydens birth). we were also at an incline but it wouldn’t get worse until jogging up quince street. tessa stayed with me and we crossed the finish line together. while our time wasn’t the best, 43:23, it was our first 5k and neither of us run. after the race we met tessa’s mom, dee, janelle and nelson and headed over to first aid to get me cleaned up. we purchased some sunflowers in honor of chelsea and then headed to breakfast. i am proud of this accomplishment and we have already registered for our next 5k in two weeks!

are you a runner? check out my friend suzanne’s blog. she’s a crazy marathoner, i love reading her journey through each race.