Run for the STARS

My nephew Nate has Downs Syndrome, and he and his folks attend a church that has an amazing support system for kids with this and other disabilities. One of their fundraisers each year is the Run for the Stars 5K - the proceeds from the registration goes toward providing summer camp experiences for the kids and their families. In years past, I would never have considered running in this race; not because I don’t love my nephew (I do), but because I didn’t think I’d ever be able to run for 10 yards, let alone 5 kilometers. This year, however, needing a new exercise challenge, I’ve decided to go for it. As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I’m using a combination of Cool Running’s Couch Potato to 5K running plan and PodRunner’s First Day to 5K music system. I am just starting week 6 training right now, so I should be just about ready by the time the race kicks off on Saturday, June 14th. For those of you familiar with the Wheaton, IL area, I’ve included a map of the route - it’s fairly flat and tree-covered, which is great for us novices, but it has been USTF and CARA certified. I’ll keep you posted with how the training is going. I’ve also included the event in a running website I found called MapMyRun, which is where I created the event map you see below.