The Jog for Jordan

Honestly, I was really worried that we would need to cancel the Jog for Jordan... we only had 2 racers signed up for a few weeks.  I guess we just know a lot of procrastinators because in the end, we had a fantastic turnout.  Among the participants were childhood friends, college friends, old roommates, friends and neighbors from both past and current neighborhoods, our kid's teachers, Ryan's co-workers and students, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, parents, grandparents and even a fair amount of people who don't know us but came anyway.  It was amazing to see people from every area of our lives come together to support Jordan's adoption. We can't wait to tell him how many people cared about him before he even came home!

 Bib pick up station.

My cousin, sister, niece, and cousin's wife.

My amazing dad took care of Mason all morning and helped direct racers at an intersection.  

 1K start...

 

 1K boys winner.

1K Girls winner.

Our little Enoch finishing strong.

 

My great friends: The Breakfast Crew.  Heather, peeking in the back, planned/coordinated the entire breakfast.  It was such a relief to hand that responsibility over to someone.  The breakfast was really great thanks to her and her crew!

Ryan's Uncle, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, Cousin, and Ryan.

 My friend Cinda and her boys.  We actually met teaching English in China and were then roommates in college and lived down the street from each other when we were first married.  She drove about 55 miles to come to the event.

 I missed the official start to the 5K while running around moving cones to mark the course.  But here are the runners as they were about to leave the park.

The whole morning we only had one thing go wrong... one pretty big thing.  We lost about 10 racers on the 5K course.  We had maps and before the race explained that the course went out one way, and turned around to come back, but I guess the two fastest runners weren't paying attention and flew right past the turn around spot.  The woman at the water station/turnaround said they looked so confident, she second guessed that it was the turn around spot, and several racers followed them... even a few that said they were pretty sure they were supposed to turn around, but followed anyway.  Thank goodness a friend that knew they were supposed to turn around had a phone and called from the water station for clarity and made sure everyone else went the right way.  Amazingly, the first finisher was one of the boys that went the wrong way.  He added quite a bit of distance to the race, but still managed to beat everyone.  I was so relieved that everyone who went astray safely found their way back to the trail, but I still felt awful that it happened.  

1st Place man. 

1st place woman.

Here is Kaitlyn crossing the finish with one of my old friends and her cousin Lexi.  After the race my friend told me that Kaitlyn and her cousin had run pretty hard most of the way and started to slow down.  She heard Kaitlyn turn to Lexi and say, "Come on, we need to do this for Jordan" they picked up their pace and ran the rest of the 5K.

 My dear cousin Kirsten and her husband.  Kirsten and I went to China together to teach English. 

 

 Maddie's friend, teacher, and Maddie. 

 My friend Carrie, who has had considerable health challenges ran and finished the 5K.  I am so proud of her! 

We were blown away by the support we had from friends and family before, during and after the race.  We really do know the best people!