We ran and we conquered!

In September of 2010 I started planning the 5k walk/run. I had no idea the details that go into organizing a run. I started really diving into the planning in January. This consisted of calling local stores for donations and/or sponsors. At first, I felt very overwhelmed with my "to do" list. There were a lot of things that I had to figure out and I was not sure where to start. I contacted the city to get permission to have the run. We sent in a map and everything was approved for April 9th, 2011. Everything started falling into place from there. Local businesses started calling with donations for the bake sale and raffle. I was so amazed and humbled to see how many businesses offered help. My parents came out the Tuesday before the run. We had a million last minute details to attend to but everything got taken care of. I have to give a shout out to Spencer who was truly my right hand man. What I couldn't do, he was doing. It could not have gone nearly as smoothly if I hadn't had him helping. Not to mention all of the people who came the day of the race and voulenteered. On Thursday it started snowing (yes, I said snowing in April) and didn't stop until Sunday! This was definatly a test of my faith. I have had a strong impression not to concern myself with the weather, just to focus on the other items on the agenda. So I did that praying everything would work out. Saturday morning everyone showed up at the park to set up. The snow was coming down HARD! Starting to get a little worried, I reminded myself to have faith. Runners started showing up and the snow was not stopping. Registration started at 9 a.m. and the race started at 9:30 a.m. I stood on a chair to welcome/thank everyone for coming and showing support for my dad. Once I was finished and had everyone line up, the snow stopped COMPLETLEY and the sun came out! It was a giant testimony to me on faith. The sun stayed out throughout the race and it didn't start snowing again until the end of our raffle. My favorite part of the race was seeing my dad round the corner heading towards the finish line. He was so strong, had great form and looked wonderful. As I watched him running towards us, I saw my dad. My dad who is a strong, independent, faithful man. I didn't see the dad with cancer. I saw the dad I've always known. I was able to run the last leg of the race with him. Just he and I and I felt like 20 years had gone by so quickly. Running with him I felt a flash back of our life with him. He is an amazing person who has been such an incredible example to me over the years. He has shown faith throughout this process and never once questioned "why me". The world would be a sadder place with out him in it. I want to thank all of my voulenteers who helped that day. Scott and Steph Carr, Cheryl Kearns, Lori Florek, Leslie Fowler, Kristin Walker, Brother Ray, Christy and Eli Larkin, Brian Dixon, Naomi Lange, Melissa Arellano, Amy Hansen, LeGrande and Cindy, Brother Poulsen, Brooke and Jeremy Franco. We could not have pulled this off with out your help! It was truly inspiring to see everyone line up at the starting line. With in seconds of staring the race, runners lined the sidewalk by Layton City Park. The first runner crossed the finish line with a time of 20 minutes 49 sec. And my dad finished the race with a time of 28 minutes 15 sec.