AMAZING "Race" Day, 9/25, Evansville, IN

It truly was an AMAZING day! The Komen Greater Evansville Race was held this morning, and a beautiful morning it was. We had a low temp of 54 (coolest since May) and it quickly rose to the 70's with bright blue skies throughout.

BRAGGING RIGHTS are here in southern Indiana! This was the largest per-capita participation in the country! AND, this is not the first time we've achieved that. Today we had 14,600 plus 1100 "Survivors" who met, walked, and ran. Now I realize that 15,700 doesn't sound like that much compared to some events. But..."Greater Evansville" includes 28 counties in Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois (the tri-state). Evansville is about 150,000 people strong and all of the outlying areas only include about 50,000 more. So pretty good numbers with just under 200,000 to pull from. Come on, GIVE IT UP for Evansville and our neighbors!

Due to "technical" problems, I arrived about 5 minutes late and made my way through the crowd to the gathering of pink-shirted "Survivors". A SEA OF PINK, amazing! There were a couple of short speeches with encouraging words, several inspirational songs, a color guard, and the National Anthem was sung by a barber shop quartet. Then we walked down Main St. and I rejoined my son, daughter, and friends to continue our day. We talked to many others and spent a little time looking at and buying Komen merchandise. After that it was time to proceed another 6 blocks to the starting line, very near the Ohio River and our Museum. There were some recognitions made while everyone was gathering and then we started - we walked the short, one mile race. Looked as though about half of the people opted for this, while the other half did the 5K. When finished we headed back to the car (walking another 6 or 8 blocks) just to drive to Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast. I guess we walked it off BEFORE we ate it.

If you've never participated before, I would urge you to do so. It is so UPLIFTING, ENCOURAGING, and yes, INSPIRATIONAL. This was not my first time, but obviously more meaningful than ever before! I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to do it this year, but OH SO glad I was there with family and friends beside me!

Because the money donated is so well used, I'll lay down the gauntlet and challenge everyone to beat "Greater Evansville" out of our "per-capita" bragging rights.

God bless us all, Marsha