Race for the Cure-Pirate Style

It was Race for the Cure time again last Saturday, my kids love this even if James cried when we told him he was old enough to do the full 5K this year. We usually do this with the rest of the Bellamy Clan but due to injuries and work we were on our own this year. 

We got the kids up early in the morning and the boys took to the pirate theme again this year, staging a sword fight in the hallway between "Jake" and "Capt. Hook". 

Despite the traffic (sorry public transit it is cheaper to drive my family downtown and pay for parking than drive them to a park and ride and pay for Trax) we made it in plenty of time to snap a few pictures. A nice man offered to take a picture for us....um poor Matty didn't make the cut. 

From there we split into two groups, the girls and boys. The girls moved at a slightly faster pace than the boys did so we took off. And paused at each mile sign to mark our progress. 

See how sunny it is right here...a quarter of a mile later the girls and I were battling an impromtu hail storm that killed my pirate hat..alas. We battled through though, and the boys who were a little under a mile behind us missed the hail all together. 

We cheered when we saw this sign, it was an exciting moment....more exciting than the finish sign which we did not pose by. 

While we waited for the boys we walked around the festivities. I love the random pink thinks that you can find around this race. 

We were able to get one family picture when everyone finished, There was even one when everyone was smiling and looking at the camera. It made me proud. 

I love doing this race every year. There is something about the sense of community that you can find among those united in a greater cause. It doesn't matter where you stand on political issues, what your religion is, or how much money that you have, for one brief moment everyone is united in the cause of that touches so many of us. I can't think of a greater lesson to pass on to my children. To teach them that together so much good can be done even of it is one step at a time.