Santa Hustle

I am back on track to becoming a runner. Honestly, I don't like running. I have been sick the past two days, so I really did not want to get out of bed on this very cold morning.  However, today I remembered today that race day is super fun! In general, runners are really nice people and race events have a great atmosphere with camaraderie and celebration. You also get a great sense of accomplishment when you finish!

 This morning we ran the Santa Hustle 5K and Half Marathon in Sevierville, Tennessee. It is a really fun race where everyone gets a Santa-like shirt, hat and beard to run. A lot of people took it to the next level and dressed up even more as elves and other characters. One group was Santa and all eight reindeer! They ran in formation for the entire 5K and even sang Christmas carols. It was so cute and fun. Our friends Laura, Brooke and Mackenzie ran the half marathon, as did Andy, while I ran the 5K.

 Andy has been running half-marathons and full marthons for about seven years. This morning's race was a breeze for him. He was a pretty cute (and skinny!) Santa. He loves to run and especially loves race day. Today he finished fourth in his age bracket and in the top 10 overall! Not too shabby.

 Brooke, Laura and Mackenzie also ran the half marathon! Laura and Brooke both clocked personal records for the day. I was so proud of them.

The girls decided to get in the spirit of the race and get cute socks. They were pretty disappointed to see that about half of the female runners had a similair idea at Target! They still looked adorable.