I DID IT!!!
(okay here goes the unwanted underline again)

Today, President's Day, was the 25th Great Aloha Run. But let me immediately explain that I didn't RUN, I walked. It is 8.1 miles beginning at Aloha Towers and ending at the Aloha Stadium. (Leah will understand that). My goal was to cross the finish line and get the T-shirt. So that's just what I did.

Kristine wound up jogging/walking with the boys, and I walked with Danielle (another lady from church) while she pushed the baby stroller.

In case you're wondering, I'm still good and sore 6 hours later--but I DID IT!! My time was about 2 1/2 hours.

Here's (okay--where did the underline go???) the motley crew before the race. I had absolutely NO interest in getting a similar picture after the race (walk). I was in too much agony. From left to right: Danielle (with baby Madeline), moi, Nathan, Kristine and Josh, Danielle's son. (By the way, Danielle has 6 [six] kids, but she only brought these two)

Leah attended HPU (Hawaii Pacific University) for her graduate studies, so when I saw this guy, I had to get a shot just for nostalgia's sake.

Over 26,500 people were registered for the event. It seemed to me that the majority of them walked the course, but hey, walking it is better than not doing it at all. I guess the proceeds from the registration were divided up among several charities.

What a welcomed sight! There was still some distance to cover though. Had to walk through the stadium, out the other side and on a winding path that led to the bottled water/doughnut/T-shirt distribution.

And here's the coveted T-shirt.

Posted at 3:15 on Monday, Feb. 16, 2009