Happy Holidays!

We are looking forward to spending the holiday with family & friends, but wanted to send out a quick HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Team G Shock!

We wish you all nothing but health & happiness this holiday season, and are looking forward to a happy 2013! We hope that everyone has a wonderful time with family and friends and gets to relax and enjoy the season.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a very Happy New Year! 

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Event #39 - Snowflake 5k

This past Saturday was our 3rd time running the Snowflake 5k, and race #39 for Team G Shock! For once, it was actually kind of warm for this race, which was pretty nice. When we sign up for a race in December, we don't expect warm weather, but we were pretty happy with 50 degrees at race time! It was a little rainy in the morning, but luckily it held off once the race started.

Over 200 people ran the race, plus a handful of dogs, and a number of people dressed up in costumes. We've run on this course a number of times, and always enjoy it as it is familiar and fairly flat!

We started together, but speed racer Nate took off around the 1-mile mark, and I honestly don't think I could have stayed with him this time around. Not only did he finish ahead of me, but he set a new PR! I tied my second fastest time, and was pretty happy with that. I have some work to do to catch up with Nate, but at least it gives me some extra motivation!

Here are our official times:

76th place - Nate Towne - 26:05 (new PR listed over there ------->)
99th place - Sara Towne - 28:15

There wasn't an official Santa like last year, but there was a not-quite-convincing Santa there taking pictures with people. I'll let you judge for yourselves, but notice the space I left between me & Santa in the picture below....he wasn't fooling me!

We're on the hunt for something special for race #40 (ideas are welcome), but until then, enjoy some pictures from this past weekend!

Before the race

Lined up at the start!

Mr. Nate Towne - owner of a fancy new PR!

Me, "Santa" and Nate.

Tomorrow's Race...

Tomorrow, we will run race #39 for Team G Shock. We're excited to run, but in light of the terrible tragedy of today, that is obviously not the first thing on our minds. We've run this race before and it has always been in support of Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee (PCAT). Their tag line is "Valuing Children. Strengthening Families. Engaging Communities." What an appropriate organization to be supporting at this time.

Tomorrow we will run and race for Team G Shock, with the families and neighbors of Newtown, CT on our minds and our hearts. Hope everyone is able to enjoy some time with those they love this weekend, and we'll have an update on the race next week!

The Big 3-9!

We've got another race on the calendar, and this will officially be Team G Shock race #39! Not sure what happened to our idea of running 10 races - that obviously went out the door a loooong time ago.

We will be running the Snowflake 5k to support PCAT here in Nashville on December 15th. We've run this race twice before (and even got to see Santa last year!), so we're excited to try it again. We're hoping that the current weather stays around until race day - it wouldn't be terrible to run a race in December in 50 degree weather. But, warm or cold, rain or shine, we'll run. See you out there!

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Event #38 - Virginia Run Turkey Trot

Well it's been a very busy couple of weeks for us, but we're finally back with an update on our Thanksgiving Day run! We made the drive to Virginia to see my family the day before Thanksgiving and got in late that afternoon. We were so happy to see everyone after the long drive (which turns out, was MUCH longer on the way back to Tennessee).

The next day we woke up bright & early to head out to Virginia Run. We ran this race waaaay back in 2009 for our 7th race, and Dad and Geoff have run it since then as well. Nate & I were excited to give the course another go, and we even convinced my other brother Drew to join us! 

The race was as crowded as I remember, and there ended up being over 5,100 runners and walkers. The course runs through the Virginia Run neighborhood, and all of the neighbors come out and cheer for the runners, which is very encouraging (especially in the middle of a big hill). Nate & I stayed together the whole time, and everyone did really well. It was fun to run with my family, and a great way to start off the holiday! 

Here are the official results:

442nd place - Geoff Ross - 24:15

1,290th place - Nate Towne - 28:49

1,292nd place - Sara Towne - 28:50

2,419th place - Joe Ross - 33:56

3,028th place - Drew Ross - 38:42

We got plenty of pictures during the race, and as you can see it was a beautiful day for a run! 

The Ross (Towne) family before the race!

Drew, Dad, me and Geoff

Nate & me before

LOTS...

...and lots of runners!

After! We did it!

Nate, Drew, Dad, Geoff & me

Race #38 - in the books!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out with my family, and had a great weekend visiting with them and some of our friends. We're looking forward to our next race - keep an eye out for that info soon!