This morning I was fortunate enough to join two different running groups for my weekly Saturday morning run. Meg, however; was not able to join the Richmond Road Runners this morning for her Boston Marathon training run. Sadly, she was tragically killed by a drunk driver on Monday morning while out on her run…
The running community once again quickly came together and created #megsmiles. Word spread across the internet to dedicate today’s miles to Meg. If you ran and would like to add your miles, you can go to Meg’s Miles and add them there, or simply tweet your miles with #megsmiles.
I woke up at 5:15 to find my car entombed in a layer of crusty snow, however; the roads looked clear so I knew that it was “game on” for my first run with the local Moms Run This Town group. Cruiser Beth and I arrived at our usual Saturday morning meeting place an hour earlier than usual so we could run for the first time with this awesome group of ladies. Our plan was to run five miles with them before meeting the Cruisers back at the parking lot at 7:30. We got out of our cars onto a gritty icy slippery mess; oh, and did I mention that it was pitch black and only 28 degrees with a 17 degree windchill? We ran on the snow covered horse trail where the traction was much better, but quickly found ourselves running straight into a fierce headwind.
My hands were so cold (I even had mittens on over my gloves) that I had trouble turning my camera on and snapping the shutter, much less being able to turn the flash on. I tried several “fartlek photos,” but between it being so cold and still so dark, this is the best shot I got of the ladies running toward me. For new readers to my blog: my definition of a “fartlek photo” is when I sprint ahead so I can turn around to take a picture of my running friends or when I lag behind taking a picture and then have to sprint ahead to rejoin the group.
At our turn-around point, I managed to turn the flash on and get this great picture of Beth with two of our new MRTT friends.
As these fabulous moms finished five miles, we got a quick group picture before several of us joined the Cruisers for an additional seven to eight miles…
Moms Run This Town
The Cruisers were raring to go, but paused long enough for a quick picture…
Cruisers
And before we all went our separate ways, we got a picture of both groups together. I estimate that our combined groups ran just over 100 miles for Meg this morning!
Everyone (minus Bill, the photographer)!
1 Timothy 4:8
For while bodily training is of some value,
godliness is of value in every way,
as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
- Questions:
- Did you run any miles for Meg today?
- Do you run with a running group?
- Who’s racing this weekend?
It was only 18 degrees this morning & felt much colder with the wind. How awesome that you logged miles for Meg with two groups!
It was an honor to run for Meg… And I love how the running community immediately knew exactly what to do!
I’m so glad we could all meet up! I definitely felt colder during my second run – that wind yikes! But doing it for Meg made it so much better!
You ran 15 miles today, your longest ever! Congratulations!
That’s awesome you ran miles with so many people, especially in the cold!
I ran 13.1 miles on the treadmill for #megsmiles (so did Kelly). It’s been above freezing for the last week, so everything is one big skating rink.
I ran 12 miles and Bill ran 14 so we averaged out to 13 miles also! 😉
I’ve seen posts from people all over the world running #megsmiles today. So sweet…
I love seeing all the miles that are getting added today for Meg. I also added 3 myself.
I have yet to run with the RIRR because as far as I can tell they only do a Thursday pub run regularly and it’s usually too early or too far away. I did go to their monthly meeting again last week though.
Isn’t the running community amazing? Keep going to those meetings and eventually you’ll be able to join them for a run!
Yea for doing some miles with MRTT!!! What chapter did you run with?? Bummed it wasn’t mine 😉
We have a local chapter, but eventually I’ll make it down your way!
So excited you ran with them 🙂 BTW…I’ll be at the Reston 10 miler!
Yay! We’ll definitely have to meet-up before the race!
It’s awesome that you were all able to get together to run for Meg… it seems like that honors her all the more!
I ran 4 🙂
Every mile counts whether run with a group or individually…
I ran 3 miles today one for each of her children. I do not currently run with a group, I am a chapter leader for a small MRTT group but everyone is doing their own thing right now.
Love your definition of a fartlek photo!
What a nice gesture to run a mile for each of Meg’s children.
That is awesome that you were able to connect with two groups. I ran the ZOOMA half this weekend but I did think of Meg quite a bit on the run. It was a beautiful course and race and I truly believe she was watching over all of us runners running for her this weekend.
Hope the ZOOMA Half went well! I’m sure lots of races were dedicating their miles to Meg as well.
Great turnout on a cold, snowy/icy day! My running buddy, Kim, and I ran two miles together for Meg. I also ran 5 miles prior to meeting up with Kim, and Barry put in 9 miles. I thought it was amazing how word spread about what happened across social media, and how many people joined in across the world as a result.
Yes, it was so amazing how quickly word spread with #megsmiles.
Very cool that you guys joined up with your local MRTT group. I ran 8 miles for Meg on Saturday.
They start at the same place the Cruisers start, but an hour earlier so I’m sure I’ll be running with those ladies a lot in the future. It’s always fun to make new running friends!