Still a few more days to sign up to join us at the Running Scared 5K (or Walking Confidently 5K as I hope to do). My sister is hoping to register the team tomorrow (Saturday) so if you still want to join us please comment below or email me and I’ll get you in touch with her. I think she said we have about 25 people joining us next Sunday on Halloween at 9am. It’s in Seattle at Seward Park, why not join us?

The proceeds benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society which has donated over $680 million to blood cancer research since it’s inception in 1954. Organizations like THIS are the reason that I have a treatable and curable cancer. Organizations like THIS are responsible for the medical breakthroughs that are saving my life. It’s a $20 entry fee with all proceeds going to cure cancer.

One caveat though, due to the change in my chemo schedule it’s now unclear how much of the 5K I’ll actually be able to walk next week as it will now be only a few days after my next chemo treatment, rather than the full week and half that it was going to be. Regardless I’m still planning on walking it, just a little slower now, and maybe not the whole thing… There is no time limit though, so maybe I’ll just “camp here, and make for the summit in the morning.” I’m certainly no threat to my last, and only, official 5K time when we did the Black Diamond Triathlon last year and I medal-ed in the team relay with Ryan and Sage.

So yeah, think about joining us if you can. It should be a lovely walk (or run if you wish) near the shores of Lake Washington. And thanks to everyone who has already signed up to join us, it should be a fun morning!

I’m finally getting around to get these pictures posted.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, on Saturday Christine and I headed up to the hills with Sage and Maggie for The Winter Pineapple Classic, a 5K in North Bend. It was another fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We’ve started to notice that there are a lot of these around, and that most of them are 5K’s or Stair Climbs or whatnot. We think it has something to do with the fact that these “blood cancers” tend to strike young people, so the fundraisers tend to get started around  activities and active lifestyle stuff and whatnot. Something for people to get out and DO. Or it could just be a coincidence.

But I digress. The four of us met up with a few others in North Bend. Christine and Maggie’s (and Ryan’s) trainer Kailyn, his husband, and a couple of their friends.

Team Lange

Shortly before the race started Tanya arrived to hang out with me while the others were running.

The team was in the second wave of the day at 9:15. The event started at 9:00am and scheduled start times were every fifteen minutes until noon. There were a ton of people there when we got there and there were a ridiculous number of people there when we left, and they were still rolling in. It’s a pretty big event! Last year there were over 3000 participants and they raised over $465,000 for the LLS. This year they were expecting to beat both numbers.

Here goes Wave 2:

There is a reason its called the The Pineapple Classic. Every team must carry a pineapple with them.

Starting off, grabbing the Pineapple

What was nice about this race is that it took place over a pretty wide open field, which meant that Tanya and I were able to freely walk around and watch them several times as they made their way around the course. We just cut through the middle.

OH, and I did I mention that it’s also an Obstacle Course !!!!

Not our people, but this was the first obstacle

Again, not our people, but you get the idea

Once Tanya and I figured out the layout of the course, we were able to put together a plan of attack in order to get ahead of them and cut them off at very points throughout the track. so instead of taking pictures of what they had gone through, we were able to get quite of few pictures of them going through the obstacles.

Stine posing for an 'action shot'

Teamwork required. Note the pineapple.

Team Lange

Team ''

It was a pretty fun event, and I was so relieved that it turned out to be a race that I could come “watch”. That was a unexpected surprise. I was pretty prepared to go sit in the car with Tanya for 20 minutes while they ran the race, but the venue was perfect to be able to run around and watch them progress through the course.

Already though, I can’t wait until I can participate next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. As each of these events come and go I can already see myself returning to them year after year. And each year I’ll think back on that first year, when I couldn’t participate because I had cancer, but now I can participate as an example to those who at one time like me, could not. It’s organizations like the LLS who have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the cancer research. And because of the events like this I had a form of cancer that was treatable and curable. It will certainly keep me coming back, and will keep me donating to the LLS for life. Because of them, I can.

I’ve mentioned The Big Climb before.

It’s 69 flights of stairs.
It’s 1311 steps.
It’s 3 days after my last chemo appointment.
It’s gonna suck.
But I’m gonna do it.

I’m pretty out of shape after not getting much exercise after the last 6 months (much to my doctors annoyance) but the fact that this event is scheduled for mere days after my FINAL chemo appointment is a sign enough that I should do it.

When I did it back in 2006 (or something like that) I think my time was just under 15 minutes. It think this year I’d be happy with under 30

OOPS. HA! Actually. I just went to the website to formally sign-up and was greeted with the following message:

The 2011 climb has sold out as of 2:30 p.m. on February 28th.

So strike that. Apparently I’m not doing it =)
I think my sister and father-in-law got their registrations in on time though.