Save the Hoohas

In honor of my dad's mom, Linda Nielsen, several members of my family participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K in Salt Lake City yesterday. The Race is a fundraiser to raise money for breast cancer research and patient treatment. Over 18,000 people were in the race, and more donated money to the cause. I can't find the figures for how much money was raised this year, but it's more than the $600,000 raised last year. Click here for an article about the race.

My grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2007. Yesterday, we joined the race in celebration of her survival.

Let the journey begin...
Here are some pictures from our TRAX ride on the way downtown for the race, which started at the Gateway Mall.

Jane and me

Mom and Michael

Lisa and Dalton (I promise he has a face)

Christian (Lisa's husband) and Deborah

Amy

The train did get rather crowded the closer we got to the Gateway. I'm not sure Jane appreciated the increased noise level.

Pre-Race Jitters...
We arrived downtown close to an hour before the race started. We found a few ways to keep ourselves occupied while we waited for the race to start.

All of our labels were pinned on our backs:
We posed for a few pictures:

Took a much needed bathroom break (I'm pregnant--need I say more?):
Enjoyed some short warm-up walks:
And let Jane try her hand at photography:
At a breast cancer awareness event, this picture seemed poetically appropriate.

Countdown...
As I said, some 18,000 people participated in yesterday's race. The true runners, who were in it to race, were at the front of the starting line.

The less-athletic, but just as enthusiastic, hung back just a bit.

We claimed our spot and waited for the start pistol.

We missed you, Sarah!

And we're off...

The crowd was HUGE. Pictures don't really do it justice, but here's an attempt to show the magnitude of what we were a part of. You can get some idea if you follow the line of the road. Ahead of us:

Behind us:

After a while, Jane and Dalton decided the excitement really wasn't worth their attention. They found a better way to occupy their own time:

We covered the stroller with a blanket to avoid sunburns. We did get a few comments and laughs...

Success!
We crossed the finish line at 1 hour, 11 minutes, 37 seconds. We all finished the entire race. Hooray!
In another attempt to show the crowd, here is a shot of the finishing line taken from the second level of the Gateway Mall:

But wait! There's more...
Mom requested a special Mother's Day present from her daughters. Any guesses?

Yes indeed, Mom was getting her ears pierced and she wanted her daughters' support. It all started with the paperwork, including showing ID to prove that Mom is over 18 years of age. (You'd think four grown daughters would be proof enough...)

The worker was very nice. I looked at her nametag a bunch of times--I know that she was the Assistant Manager, but I have no idea what her name was. Sigh.

Mom was a little nervous. Amy was there for her.

Cleaning the ears:

Marking where the holes will be:

Waiting--oh, the anticipation!:

Ear #1:

Ear #2:

Success again! Mom was well rewarded for her good behavior.

Don't the earrings look lovely (if you can't see them, yes, they do)? Amy paid for the actual piercing, so she picked the studs. They are blue zirconium, December's birthstone. Both Mom and Amy have their birthdays in December.

Meanwhile...
Christian took charge of Michael, Dalton and Jane while us girls had our ear adventure. They played at the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum, also located in Gateway Mall. If any of you are in Salt Lake with small children, let me know and we'll hook you up with some discount passes. Deborah works there.

There's no place like home...
The TRAX ride home was, shall we say, less enthusiastic than the initial ride downtown.

Whew...
It was a long day, but a very good day.

All for you, Grandma