Notice the trophy? (cough, cough) Pretty cool, hugh? I was awarded this prize for the best time for a mom runner with freckles and grey hair! How cool is that? (Shhhh... I actually stole this bronze award from a strapping first place teen athlete that finished in record time. That's why I am looking to the right, scoping for it's rightful owner. Just after the picture was snapped, he spotted me. Let me tell you this... I gave him a run for his money! He had to chase me halfway through the park! I gave it back... eventually.)
Also from the title of the post, one could assume that the Hott family ALL "finished" the 5K, right? Well.... let's just call this our little secret and I'll fill you in about how the "others" did!
To begin with, I am also so proud of the Hott Sisters! They managed to steal the show in record time: just about one hour. And to their credit, Caity and Violet actually ran something more along the lines of an 8K. Seriously! The girls had to run or walk double with their brothers. One would alternate and speed forward then insist on being delivered back to mom, me, bringing up the rear -- of the entire 5K!
It wasn't so bad, really! The scenery was beautiful on a lovely Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I managed to start my very first ever 5K in a fit of giggles. No wonder all the boys, Dan, Isaac, and Levi, kicked it in high gear and took off, leaping ahead of me like a horse in the Kentucky Derby when the gun was fired. You see, leave it to the Hott Family to arrive last. Yes, I said l.a.s.t. To my defense, each participant had to register for the race over a mile from the the entrance and then walk back to the race's start location.
I wasn't about to add another mile to MY 5K! Heck... at that time, I wasn't sure I was even going to make it one K. So, to the embarrassment of my entire family, I managed to hitch a ride for us all on the back of a stranger's pick up truck. You never know till you ask, right? So this guy just happened to be parked there and I asked him if he would drive us all over to the beginning of the race. Little did I know that his lady friend, sitting under a tree, yelled over "Oh go ahead and give them a lift! That's Ida Lea's niece, Angie!"
What? Just who the heck is that and how do they know my Aunt Ida Lea? She's been dead for a decade! So, I engage in a conversation on the McBee family tree. How easily did I forget that we were all entered in a 5K race which was about to start any second. After rambling on and on about Aunt Marion and Uncle Junior, Dan grabs me around the race and just throws me in the back of the truck. The kids just pretended not to know me, already realizing after the conversation that we were ALL related!
So, off we go to find the beginning of this 5K! After giving the wrong directions, we drive up another road and literally run head first in to the beginning of the race. Nervous, I do the only thing that comes naturally,... I giggle. Suddenly, I am attacked with a rage of uncontrollable giggles! Not only that, what are we supposed to do now? Those "real" athletes are no way letting us in at the beginning of the line. Then I hear from somewhere in the middle of the crowd of racers, "Hey! It's the Hott Family"
Next, all six of us manage to find a spot, in the back, and in no less than two seconds, the Park Superintendent says, "GO!"
And we're off!
And I still have the giggles! It's no wonder the boys dart ahead as fast as they can. I can't even get close to them; six year old Levi included! It is ten seconds in to the race and I am dead last. Somewhere ahead of me, I can see Dan and our boys! The more I giggle, the faster they run... hummmm! There's something fishy here!
As I run (and giggle), Caity slows down to catch me. Between the giggles and my bouncing breasts, I am sure I am no way going to make this 5K. I realized that I made a HUGE mistake in planning (or lack of planning) for this race. How in the world do people run with bouncing boobs? It's terrible! I am running and having this conversation with Caity (just a little too loud) and she says, "Well, mom... that's what sports bras are for!" Hummm... didn't think of that!
Duh.... she's the one with the MBA, right?
So, on we go... giggling and bouncing our way through the park in our first 5K! I still have my eyes on the boys. Yes,... there they are! I see them. Dan running with both Levi and Isaac at his heals. For a moment, I finally stop giggling. That's it! That's the picture I will always remember about this 5K! Dan with the boys at his heels; every now and then Dan bends down to listen to Levi because, I am sure, our Levi is talking his ear off the entire time. Sure enough, he is! Then Isaac, only 7 but wise way beyond his years, insists on holding Dan's hand while he tries to run. It's hard enough to run when one is healthy, right? Now, try it with Parkinson's, two boys, and the uncertainty of future physical capabilities. And you know what? I could care less if any one of us finishes at that moment. Because right now, this very second, we all won.
Here is the picture that stinking ole Parkinson's saw:
Our backsides! "Eat Our Dust Parkinson's Disease!" WooHoo!
Needless to say, along about the 2.5K mark of our journey, little Levi and Isaac were well spent. After all, it was about a 90 degree morning. We had managed to pass our first water break which lead us by the parking lot. Finding our car, we stopped to coat with bug spray and the complaints were pouring. Dan was heading up the mountain. Isaac, however, had a different idea.
"Hey Levi! There's the Nature Center! Guess what's in there?! A timber rattlesnake!" Levi's response was, "COOL!" (Typical boy, right?) So, I was bombarded with pleas to just stop in and see the snakes; we were standing right in front of the building after all, mom, pleeeeeeeease!
Looking at my boys, I knew they were too pooped to go any further! And feeling the safest thing to do was take a break, I said "sure!" After all, we were already winners, right?!
At this point, I would do anything to stop running too, even if I had to look at a rattlesnake, copperhead, and animal carcasses. Eeewe, right? But the boys thought it was the coolest thing ever. and guess what, the Nature Center was air conditioned! So as Dan, Caity, and Violet headed up the mountain to finish the 5K in the heat, we chilled out in the presence of a few snakes. Hopefully, they won't tell. And after a while, the boys were refreshed and we returned to report our "absence" and watch Dan and the girls cross the finish line. Following our little "confession", the race coordinators gave the boys medals for being the youngest to enter and completing 2.5K. Check it out: The Hott Family "Finishes" 5K, Kicks Parkinson's Butt and... we're ALL winners!
"Now thanks be unto God,
which always causeth us to triumph in Christ!"
2 Cor. 2:14
Have you ever had the crazy idea to do something entirely different? Something you have never, EVer done before? Something completely new and unattempted? And then,... sign up your entire family to join you? 
