This is my fifth year running the World Vision Global 6K for Water! Back in early 2017 I had just moved for a job and ended up in small town Mexia, Texas. There wasn’t even a gym, so I took up running for something to do. Enter Team World Vision. I signed up and started training for the 6K, and ran my own route around town on race day.

In 2018 I had just moved (again) and ran the race once more on my own. I didn’t want to keep running on my own, so in 2019 Team Waco Texas began with a group of 9 people. The year 2020 was an odd one in more ways than one. While some chose to participate virtually, a hardy crew showed up IN THEPOURING RAIN. As one of my friends said, it seemed appropriate to be walking in the rain to support clean water.

My relationship with running grew alongside Team World Vision. I ran my first ever chip-timed race in 2018, a 10K which also happened to be in the pouring rain! I completed the Piney Woods trail race with Ultra Expeditions and ended up with some mud colored socks that I now call my “lucky socks”. I started volunteering at races around the state, and jumped from 10K to 25K in April 2019, doing the Brazos Bend trail race with Trail Racing Over Texas (TROT). A friend introduced me to the Waco Striders Running Club, and from there I guess I was truly hooked.

I started doing a bunch of smaller 5K races around town, but set my sights on the next milestone – a half marathon. I completed my first half marathon at the Barrier Island race with Ultra Expeditions. That was a new experience, running on the beach and the hard packed sand in 2019. Once I knew I was capable of that (even though I was laid up in bed the next day), my next goal was a full marathon.

I signed up for the Silo District Marathon in Waco for April 2020. When the pandemic hit I was on week 15 of a 20 week training program. It was sad, but I opted to transfer my registration to April 2021 – surely this would all be over by then! Alas, the 2021 marathon was cancelled too, though at least I was only on week 6 of 20. I still hope to complete a marathon sometime soon. When I do, I plan to run for Team World Vision.

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