I cannot believe I didn’t even tell you guys that I was doing a 5k! I do not know how it slipped my mind! In fact, I’m even doing one this coming weekend too! But we shall recap this one first! 
If you have been a reader for a while you may know that this isn’t my first 5k I have signed up for. I signed up for Race for the Cure back in 2010, but it was rained out and it was the race that never happened. Then for whatever reason I just never signed up for one again. And since I’m not really a runner (stupid IT band), I just don’t think to sign up for them.
But, as soon as I heard about Color the Quads, I KNEW I had to do it! Basically it was the Quad Cities version of a color run. My mom, sister, brother’s girlfriend, and I all signed up and decided we’d walk it together.
Donning our tutus, we made our way to the 5k!
So fresh and so clean!
We hand color packets that we ended up tossing on each other before the race officially started, so we weren’t clean for long!
Shortly after we started I hear a lady say, “Are you Brooke not on a diet?” I got ridiculously excited and made them stop for a picture! It’s the first time I have been recognized from my blog! I feel horrible for not remembering their names better! I’m pretty sure the one lady is Michelle. Glad to meet some fans!! Thanks for reading gals! And I’ll keep posting yummy recipes (sans meat though! 
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Look! I have fans!!
We made our way through all the color stations, danced our way through the bands that played, and had color in places that color should never be!
We made our way to the finish line and made sure to grab an ‘after’ photo!
We didn’t stay at the after party for long because we had to get ready to go out for my brother’s 21st birthday. So, we grabbed some cookies and chips and made our way back to the car.
On our way back we noticed one lone walker finishing the race. You could tell that she was struggling and dreading the big hill to get to the finish line. My mom said “Maybe we should go walk with her” but never really acted upon. We walked a few more feet and I shouted “You’re almost there.” Then decided that saying that wasn’t enough, that I knew what it was like to struggle and decided to run over to her and finish the race (again) with her.
I started just striking up a conversation with her and asked her if this was her first 5k. She said yes and that she had been in a wheelchair for 3 year prior to this. I told her she was amazing and told her that this was my first 5k too since losing 177lbs.
We climbed the hill together and I asked her what her name was….she told me her name was Brooke. Talk about chills! I never run into other Brookes, let alone ones who are so freaking inspiring!!
Her friend Lisa ran down the hill and we made it to the top where we shared high fives and a sweaty, colorful hug. I made sure to tell her she was amazing yet again and we snapped a picture.
Lisa and 2 Brookes!
I made sure to tell them about my blog, because I wanted to share this story. I left them and ran my way to my mom’s car with tears in my eyes. No matter how inspiring I am to others, there is so many others more inspiring than me.
Brooke- If you are reading this (I hope you are), I want you to know that you have inspired me. When I’m feeling lazy and not wanting to workout, I’m going to remember that when you were in a wheelchair, you weren’t able to. That I am lucky enough to be able to use my legs to move. Or when I feel like I can’t finish a tough workout, I’m going to remember that you finished that 5K. You are a rockstar Brooke! Don’t let anyone ever tell you any different! I hope that we can meet again and talk about how awesome our names are and maybe even finish another 5k! (Feel free to email me! )
I’d say my first 5k experience was pretty freaking amazing! Bring on the next one! Which will be Saturday! My mom and I are doing Race for the Cure in Moline! (If you’re doing it too, let me know! I love meeting readers!)
I want to know have you met somebody random who has inspired you?
