Last week I got an email from my running buddy, Marti DiPaola, asking me if I wanted to run a local Nassau County 5K race. I said “Okay.”
I wasn’t sure where or what the race was about, but I picked her up at her home at 7:30 a.m. and proceeded to follow her directions into Oceanside. The race, which was part of South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, was raising money for cancer research.
She told me about a mutual friend, Bonni Goetz, who has lymphoma and is currently fighting for her life. So we decided to run for her. We’re actually dedicating all of our next runs in her honor leading up to the Disney Half Marathon in January.
When we got to South Nassau Communities Hospital, we had plenty of time to spare. We walked around the hokey fair and visited all of the booths that had information on cancer research. Since Marti is also a health teacher, we also visited booths that had information about smoking, healthy eating, and exercise. And, we collected a lot of swag, which I don’t think we will use, but it was fun to get.
Marti and I walked over to the car, dropped off our swag bags, and started to prepare for the race. We had 15 minutes until the start of the race. I took out two chocolate GU Energy Gels and placed them on the top of my car to get ready.
We walked over to the start line. The whistle blew and we were off. We ran through the streets of Baldwin and Oceanside. We ran by a lake and a small park. We ran past a man with a young child. The child was screaming for us to keep going.
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