When I originally thought about having a "Team Josh" I had envisioned myself and perhaps a couple girlfriends running a race together. Never could I have imagined having over 85 people sign up to run as part of Team Josh in Durham's Bull City Race Fest. Word spread like wildfire (facebook DOES have its redeeming qualities) and friends, coworkers, family, and even friends of friends joined our team. People I have never even met were emailing me asking how they could sign up. Two of my son's teachers signed up. Someone I never met but also had been through the loss of a child signed up. Friends signed up with their kids for the fun run. A friend decided to use the race as an opportunity to run and bond with her daughter. Friends who are not runners signed up and started training. People were also spreading the word about raising funds on Josh's memorial page for the CJ Foundation for SIDS. I had friends tell me they were amazed at how far-reaching Josh's story was going. One friend had a donation from a former teacher she hadn't seen in over 20 years! I also discovered a few months ago that October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month so it was especially fitting that we had this run in October. I'm a true believer that all things hthis appen for a reason and this was no exception.
The generosity of people continues to amaze me. With over 100 t-shirts to order (some for out of town family) I needed to get some help with the cost. When I approached him and without hesitation, my friend Tim, owner of Blu Seafood and Bar, agreed to help cover the cost of the shirts as our team sponsor. In addition, another friend approached and offered for her law firm to donate towards the shirts. What a blessing to have official sponsors for our team! When coming up for a design for the shirt I knew I wanted to keep it simple. Thank goodness for the internet so I could play around and create a design - something I had certainly never done before! I was torn about what to put on the shirt - I thought about Josh's picture but decided against it. I definitely wanted to include something that reflected that he was a baby. I found footprint images online and thought they would be perfect for the front. On the back I wanted to put the reason for the team; mainly because during a race you look at people's backs the whole time (unless of course you are winning!). I decided to include the dates of Josh's birth and death - it was important to me for people to know that he was a baby when he passed away. Here is the final result:
I have been so busy the past few months, both at work and at home. In the back of my mind I had thought about trying to organize some sort of dinner the night before the race but just couldn't get myself together to plan ahead. About 10 days before the race I had a few people ask me if we were going to do anything the night before. Again, with the help of a wonderful friend we quickly were able to reserve the clubhouse in her old neighborhood a week before the race. I created an e-sign up for a pasta pot luck, emailed the team and the result was a delicious and fun dinner with about half of our team! When I saw a few kids coming in with their Team Josh shirts on I was so touched. Here were all these people taking time to support me and my family. The dinner was a nice way for people to meet each other and have an excuse to eat yummy food before the race. What made our evening so very special was when a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky right over us. There had been no storm or downpour - just a little drizzle and a setting sun. I know that rainbow was Josh saying hello from heaven. Seeing it brought me and many others to tears. It was like he was right there with us and knew we needed a tangible sign.
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| Sweet Josh |
We were blessed with gorgeous weather on race day. Our team met early for our Team Josh picture, kindly taken by my brother-in-law. Unfortunately we were missing about 10 people in the picture due to traffic and the chaos of parking and people. When I look at this picture, it warms my heart. What a wonderful show of unity, support, and friendship!
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| Team Josh |
There were some touching moments on race day. What I LOVE about running is that it is for anyone and everyone. All ages, shapes, sizes, and speeds can do it. Half of running is not about physical fitness but mental stamina. There is a special quality about running that is hard to put into words. Especially races like this one when there are close to 6,000 runners. It is truly inspirational. One highlight of the day was when a friend of mine (who is relatively new to running) who was signed up for the 5 mile race decided to push herself a little further to see how far she could go. Wouldn't you know it she did the entire 13.1 half marathon and proudly proclaimed that she didn't walk one step! What an accomplishment! I am in awe of her courage and strength as most would not be able to do that! She said that she was thinking of Josh the whole way and actually chatted with another woman about Josh's story and that inspired that lady to keep going when she wanted to give up.
Another highlight was that at the 5 mile point where the five mile racers finished and the half marathoners continued on (looking longingly at all of those who were done!), my friend from college was cheering me on from the sideline. She had completed her five mile race. She saw me running alone since I had separated from a few other friends at that point and started running with me to keep me company. Wouldn't you know that she ran the rest of the race with me! It was such a blessing to have her by my side helping me stay motivated, especially over the 5,873 hills! As I came up to the finish line I did get a little emotional. Everyone was cheering and I had such an overwhelming feeling of joy, sadness, love, and hope all at once. After the race I had so many people come up to me - people waited around for me to finish (probably wishing I was a much faster runner!!) so they could give me a hug. I was also told that many other runners were asking Team Josh runners about our team and were inspired by it. We had so many bystanders cheering for us too as we all ran.
Although this wasn't related to Team Josh, I was also moved when the last runner was coming in the final stretch towards the finish line. About 8 motorcycle police officers were driving behind her and were making their sirens turn off and on. Everyone looked over and hundreds of people started cheering. Here was this woman who was the last one to cross the finish line when most runners had already gone home. And she was just as important as the winner of the race. She didn't give up and she did it. What guts she had to finish that race. I don't know her but I sure am proud of her.
The day was completely amazing and a week later I still hear people talking about it or asking about it. Here are the stats:
85 Registered Runners
136 Donations to date
totaling
$6,575.00
Just a wonderful example of when there is a will, there is a way. With the love, support, and help from everyone we were able to pull this off and have a wonderful day honoring my sweet boy. Thank you to everyone for your kindness and for helping raise money to help prevent this from happening to another family.
Here are a few more pictures from the big day. Unfortunately I can't adequately post and capture every single picture I have but hopefully these give an idea of the spirit of the day:
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| Ben proudly showing off his medal. |
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| So close to the finish line! |
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| My awesome University of Delaware track roommates!! |
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| Cooling down with my friend Danielle. |
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| My training partners Elaine and Amy |
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| Jenn and Emily - two more amazingly supportive friends! |
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| Ben is still holding onto that medal. :) |
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| Laura, the best sister in the world! |
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| We will ALWAYS be Team Josh |
