Sweetness is Sweet

For the second summer in a row, I ran the Sweetness 5K. The race benefits the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation to battle liver disease, and honors the life of the late Walter Payton. I run as part of the Walter Payton Liver Center team from University of Illinois Chicago, where my friend Shelly works. Not only is it fun to be part of a big team, it's also nice to get a really cool shirt.

This year the weather cooperated a lot better than last; in fact, it was a near-perfect day for a run. But what made this run truly special was sharing it with my nephew Alex. The race happened to fall on the same day as his graduation party, as he'd graduated high school a few weeks earlier. So he and I shared a great morning together before the big celebration.

The usual suspects were there, too - Linda, Pam, Kristin, Megan and Shelly. It was an awesome morning of fun with friends. I had a pretty good run, too, though not my best by a longshot. The immense hill at the end made sure of that! I came in number 274 out of 420 total, in a time of 43:04.6, or a 13:54 minute mile. I'll take it!

Connie Payton told me she loved my pants.

Shoe wheel!

The Saturday morning Strictly Strength crew:

Shelly, Pam, Linda, Me, Kristin and Meg.

The Boy proves he's not too grown up to love his Aunt Maggie.