Saturday, May 10, 2014

Miles for Moffit - Race Recap


This morning, my team and I participated in the 9th Annual Miles for Moffitt race.  This was a very special race for me.  I created a team a few months back to race in honor of my mother in law, Jeri.  She passed away in November from cancer.  She was treated by Moffitt Cancer Center for four years.  This is a great organization that does incredible work in cancer research and treatment.

Jeri Partridge

I set up a team page and started to ask my family and friends to join in.  Our team name - Jeri's Grinches.  She loved the Grinch so I thought it was appropriate. We put a great team together and raised over $1,000 for Miles for Moffitt.  100% of every registration and donation funds cancer research at Moffitt Cancer Center.

Jeri's Grinches 
Keith Chaisson
Brandi Davis
Cecilio Figueredo - Dad
Silvia Figueredo - Mom
Krysti Jimenez
Angela Neale
Alana Page
Rick Partridge
Rick Partridge Sr.
Toni Pechera
Kelly Reeb
Elizabeth Valiente

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready to meet the team at the race site at 6:30am.  I made a critical race day mistake  - I changed my routine and had Greek yogurt instead of my typical Cliff Bar. This was a mistake I would regret later. 

Most of the team was there by 7am.  Keith, Alana and Richard were still on their way.  Keith, Brandi, mom and dad were participating in the 5k while Richard and Alana were doing the 1 mile walk. So they had some time before their race start time. We spent the time waiting for them to arrive catching up and taking pictures.

Krysti, Rick, Dad, Angela and Kelly
Krysti showing our miles honor signs



Mom and Dad
Angela, Rick, Krysti and Liz



Soon they were calling for the 8k runners to go to the start line.  We said good-bye to my parents, who were tackling the 5k and headed to the start.  Within minutes, there was a countdown and we were off.  Some runners took the opportunity to high five the Mayor of Tampa, Bob Buckhorn.


My friend, Liz, and I decided to stick together and do intervals.  I had set my RunKeeper up for 1 minute run 30 second intervals.  Krysti and Angela took off and were looking strong.





The course took us all around the USF campus and past the Moffitt Cancer Center


We were soon at the first out and back.  Sorry about the blurry pictures, I was on the go.  


Krysti and Angela were still going strong


Liz and I were going along and all was well.  My dad called me to tell me that they never found Keith, Richard and Alana and they were heading to the start line.  The phone call made it that my intervals stopped working.  It was also about this time, that I started to get a cramp in my side.  This was a first for me.  Thankfully Liz and Krysti were by my side, keeping me going and distracting me from the discomfort.  

As we approached the 3 mile marker, we could see runners heading in our direction.  It was the second out and back on the course.  We saw Rick as he passed the 4 mile marker heading towards the finish.  He was looking strong and hoping for a PR.


Shortly after we saw Angela. She was looking great!  I was slow with the camera and she was moving so I almost missed the picture.  Go Angela Go!


Around this time, I started to feel bad.  I was nauseous and felt like I was going to puke.  Again Liz and Krysti kept me going and focused on the finish.  It was hot and humid but we just kept on going. We would walk some then jog some.  Just had to keep on moving.  It was hot! and humid!

After the 4 mile marker,  we could see the 5k meet up point and we knew the finish line was not too far. 


There it was.  The glorious finish line.  I'm not sure if it was the heat, humidity, or the yogurt for breakfast but this was a tough race for me.  I was very thankful to have Liz and Krysti along to keep me going. 


We grabbed water and towels they were passing out and waited for the rest of the team to cross the finish line.  All distances had the same finish line which made it very easy.

Here is a horrible picture of Richard and Alana crossing the finish line.


The guy in the green cap is Evan Longoria, third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Tampa Bay Rays are supporters of this race and Evan has participated for the past couple of years.  He was there with his girlfriend, Jaime Edmondson, and their daughter.


Richard is checking out his survivor shirt.  He's a lung cancer survivor.  My dad and Keith are prostate cancer survivors.


Keith crosses the finish line.


Alana and Toni


Dad crosses the finish line (green shirt right under the balloons)


Mom crosses the finish line... hands in the air!  


Way to go Mom!!!


We gathered the team for a group picture.   Then we headed to the food tents for after race bagels, bananas and apples before going home. 


What a great race!  This is a wonderful organization and I was super proud to support them in honor of a wonderful lady.  Jeri was full of life and had the best sense of humor of anyone I've known.  It was a true blessing to be able to participate in this event in her honor.  We will definetly do it again next year.  Bigger and Better!

Here are our team results for both the 8k and the 5k.  Brandi ran in place of Kelly who is dealing with an injury.  Here is hoping she's better soon and can run with us next year.  

277 Rick Partridge            790 43 M   8K   8K N   43:30   8:45 8:14:55.42
932 Angela Neale              743 39 F   8K   8K N   59:12  11:55 8:30:35.56 
1068 Toni Pechera             796 42 F   8K   8K N 1:09:00  13:53 8:39:50.78 
1095 Krysti Jimenez           510 17 F   8K   8K N 1:10:52  14:16 8:42:18.78 
1096 Elizabeth Valiente      1055 38 F   8K   8K N 1:10:52  14:16 8:42:18.79 
1097 Hildarys Partridge       789 40 F   8K   8K N 1:10:52  14:16 8:42:18.82 


2432 Kelly Reeb              4466 39 F   5K   5K N   45:07  14:32 8:53:51.48 
2561 Keith Chaisson          2476 58 M   5K   5K N   51:34  16:36 8:55:51.13 
2936 Cecilio Figueredo       2939 68 M   5K   5K N   56:47  18:17 9:01:04.68 
3010 Silvia Figueredo        2938 63 F   5K   5K N   58:12  18:44 9:02:29.31 




A huge thank you again to the awesome team!!  You guys Rock!!