rosstoberfest 5K...

This past Saturday was one of the fall races I was looking forward to participating in, the Rosstoberfest 5k, a race that benefits a brave little guy named Ross, who lives in Wichita and has a very rare form of MS.

I was pretty amped about this race because not only was it for a great cause, but it was also in my neighborhood, College Hill, the course passed my house twice, and it didn't hurt that the race ended with beer and brats for the finishers! (AWESOME.)

My neighborhood is one of the oldest in Wichita, the houses were all built in the early 1900's, mine is from 1930. In my opinion it's the coolest neighborhood in this city. There are a plethora of huge beautiful trees to protect from Kansas wind and offer amazing color in the fall. There are always people out walking their dogs, running, riding a bike or taking a stroll, and the coolest part is that it is pretty much the only neighborhood in the city with lots of "hills" which are great for training. The rest of Wichita is basically dead flat unless you hit the river.

We love that we can walk to cool local shops and restaurants, ride our bikes to the grocery store and are friends with all our neighbors. The real kind of friends, like sometimes we all have breakfast outside together on random weekend mornings, we mow each others lawns, have evening chats, help with yard work, watch each others' animals and keep an eye out during vacations. We are blessed to live here, and love it!

Since I couldn't participate, Ed and I, along with our neighbors, stood out on our curbs and cheered the racers on. One runner even asked to use my crutches so she had an excuse for her slowness... pretty funny.

What a fun morning! This was the first year for this race and I hope it continues because I really want to run it next year. However, my good friend Kristen ran the race for me this time around, so we snapped some pics of her, she did a great job. She got her 5K PR, and she had run a Susan G. Komen 5K just the week before! Total Rockstar!