White Rock Marathon 07 - Friday

Will & I with the elite runners from Kenya- one of these guys won first place on Sunday.

Will & I with the President of Wellstone (the marathon main sponsor) & Cody. Cody is 6 years old & was the junior race director a few years ago. He has leg & feet differences & wears prosthetics. He completed his first 5K at age 5 & recently won several medals at a competition. I think he & Will will be buddies- what a cute, precious kid!

Will & I waving goodbye to the astronauts as they took off for Jak's middle school.

Will & Aaron. Aaron is 17 & lost part of his leg & foot due to a football accident. He wears a prosthetic leg & foot & still plays football & is a wrestler. He hopes to go to play football in college. He also ran a mile in the marathon Sunday. What a inspiring kid!

WHEW! What a fun, exhausting, wonderful, humbling, overwhelming, & surreal weekend we've had! Last weekend was the 2007 Wellstone's Dallas White Rock Marathon. It was the largest ever with 15,000 runners & more spectators than ever before! We had a team for Will ("Where There's A Will, There's A Way") to raise money & awareness for the hospital as the proceeds from the marathon benefit Scottish Rite Children's Hospital where Will is a patient. Will served as a "patient champion" this year & even had a special finish at the marathon.

I've got lots to share but have to go to bed so I will try to post some more each day from all of the events. These first two groups are from Friday. The hospital holds a special event for the patient champions, patients, & families in which they invite celebrity & elite runners & NASA astronauts to come & give autographs to the kids. It was so much fun!