Final Race for 2016

Dec. 10^th, I, Rhonda ran my final race for the 2016 SoleSistersRun4ALS campaign.  Lisa and I traveled to Kiawah Island, SC.  Kiawah is a private gated community and breathtakingly beautiful!  It is also the home to world renowned golf courses with the PGA  Championship being held here again in 2021. 

We arrived on Friday and were staying in a condo.  We made a few stops for food and water, then packet pick up and quickly got situated for our evening.  We went out for a delicious dinner at King Street Grille and with full stomachs we were ready for bed.  Because we were within walking distance we didn’t have to get up quite as early. 

We woke up to a cold SC morning!  It was around 34 degrees at start and I was freezing!  I was still nursing that sore ankle so told Lisa to go get her PR as I needed to take it easy.  Once we started I realized that my IPOD was officially dead (I had washed it in the washer after our Southwest Adventure and it never recovered although it appeared it had).  Bummed I didn’t have any music, it did give me time to really think about all the different races Sue and I have ran this past year in honor of Tim Shaw.  I am still in so much awe of him and the inspiration he gives me to go on race after race. 

Around mile 2 I recognized a dear friend, Andrea, and caught up with her for a couple of miles.  It was really great to see her and it always amazed me when I run into someone I haven’t seen in a while from another part of the country at a race.

The race was otherwise uneventful which is not a bad thing.  I finished up and went in search of Lisa.  I stopped by the amazing food tent.  Kiawah Island Marathon and Half knows how to feed its runners!  I then found the results station and saw that Lisa was not only done but had smashed her PR!  I was so excited for her.  After not finding her I decided to head to the condo……where we ended up meeting each other in route.

After a shower and a yummy breakfast, a nap was in need.  We took full advantage and slept for a bit.  We then decided to go get an early dinner so we could come back and relax before heading home the following morning.  We chose to go to Red’s and it did not disappoint.  We even got to see the boats decorated  with Christmas lights cruising the harbor.  It was the perfect ending for the weekend.

The next morning we made the trip home to our wonderful families.  I am so appreciative of my family’s support over this year and am so thankful they were able to meet Tim as well.  They supported my racing from Day 1 but meeting him gave them some perspective as to how devastating ALS is. 

As we close out our 2016 running year, please remember why we are doing this…effective treatments and a cure must be found for ALS.  We would be honored for you to make a contribution to our fundraising toward ALS research at www.classy.org/20for20