World Cancer Day

Today, February 4th, 2014 is officially World Cancer Day. Plenty of people have cancer on their minds every single day, but this particular day is meant to educate and help get us one step closer to a world without cancer (wouldn't that be WONDERFUL??).

I am thinking of my Dad and all of the other cancer fighters out there today, and I hope you can take a moment to send happy thoughts to everyone out there fighting this disease. And if you are able, I hope you will consider doing something today, or tomorrow, or next month to help support cancer research and the mission to find a cure!

To learn more about our story, or to donate to Team G Shock follow this link. And be sure to check out other ways to help by visiting the World Cancer Day website!

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The Couple That Races Together, Stays Together...

This Valentine's Day weekend, Nate & I will be running our 46th race for Team G Shock. We never thought we would run that many races, but are so excited to keep it going!

We signed up for the Softball Sweetheart 5k, which will be our first race in Hendersonville since we moved up there last Spring! The race will benefit the Hendersonville High School softball team, along with the Special Olympics. We're excited to run a race close to home, and to celebrate Valentine's Day in a fun way!

There's an award for fastest overall couple, so we'll have to see how we do for that. It's been a while, but you never know!

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Event #45 - Commitment Day 5k

We started 2014 off the best way possible...with a race! While we were away for the holidays, Nate got an email from our friend Eric. He was helping to plan the Commitment Day 5k, and asked us if we wanted to run. We didn't have any plans to party the night away on New Years Eve, and the race didn't start until 10am, so we signed up! 

We spent New Years Eve at a friends house, and celebrated East Coast midnight and then headed home to countdown with our pup (that's normal, right?). 

A peek into our crazy New Years Eve. 

On New Years Day we woke up and headed into town for the race. It was chilly, but luckily not as cold as it has been lately! Our friends Barrett and Christal and their son Clay were running too so we were excited to see them when we got there. The race is run all over the United States and supports committing to a healthy lifestyle in the new year. It is not a timed race so we decided to take it easy. 

The race took place on Vanderbilt's campus which was a nice (mostly flat) course. We ran with Barrett, Christal and Clay which was fun (and props to Barrett and Christal for pushing the stroller). 

Here are our unofficial results:

Nate Towne - 32:20 (ish)

Sara Towne - 32:20 (ish)

We had a great time and will definitely run this race again. We snapped some photos along the way, as usual, so enjoy those. :) 

Before the race. 

Ready for a happy 2014! 

The Sellers fam & us after! 

Happy 2014!

We love a good race mascot! 

We are looking into some upcoming races and will update those plans here soon! Hope everyone's year is off to a great start! 

Happy New Year & a New Race!

Happy Holidays from Team G Shock! We have just returned from a great trip home to VA for Christmas, followed by another great trip to Orlando with lots of family! We had a great time with family friends but are excited to be back in Nashville with our pup!

We are having a pretty low-key New Years Eve tonight with a couple of friends (Mickey and Minnie wore us OUT!), but plan on starting 2014 out right! We will be running in the Commitment Day 5k here in Nashville with a few friends! The race will benefit the Monroe Carell Jr Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, whch is an incredible place. It will be a fun, no pressure (no official timing!) race! We're excited to start the year out with a 5k and excited to see what other races come our way in 2014!

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Event #44 - Breathe Deep Stache & Lash 5k

A few weeks ago we ran the Breathe Deep Stache & Lash 5k as part of Team MLG. We were so excited to be able to support our friend Ryan and a cause that is so close to his heart. We even adjusted our Team G Shock shirts the night before to make sure everyone knew who we were running with and for!

It was a chilly morning, but the race was at Shelby Park, which is one of our favorite courses to run. They set the course up in the opposite direction that we normally run which was a nice change. We ran for Ryan's team, Team MLG, and our friend Jonathan ran with us as well. Ryan was one of the organizers of the race, so it was nice to hear him share some of his story before the start. The name of the race included 'Stache' and 'Lash' and lots of people were sporting fake mustaches and giant eye lashes during the race. Nate and Jonathan took it a step further and shaved their beards into real 'staches the night before the race. :) 

Johnny and Nate before

Nate and I were excited to run again so soon after the Army Ten Miler. We were hoping that our training for that race would pay off for this one, and it turns out it did! We both set PR's, which at least I haven't done in looooong time. Nate almost took a minute off of his, and I took a little over a minute off mine! And, something else happened that has NEVER happened (for me)... I got 3rd place overall for females! It's such a rare occurrence that we didn't even stay for the awards! :) Luckily Ryan was able to get my prize for me! 

Here are our official Team MLG results:

13th place - Nate Towne - 25:09

16th place - Sara Towne - 26:38 (3rd place overall females!)

26th place - Ryan Gardenhire - 28:15

27th place - Jonathan Insogna - 28:32

And as always, here are some photos! 

Nate, his 'Stache and I before

...almost time...

Here come Johnny & Ryan! 

Team MLG with our 'staches after the race

Proud to be on Team MLG!

Nate & I after

Happy 'staches

Serious 'staches

We were really excited to be able to support Ryan, and his cause, and are looking forward to our next Team G Shock race (coming soon!). 

Team MLG for a Day!

Tomorrow, Nate & I will be joining our friends Ryan and Jonathan as part of Team MLG at the Breathe Deep Stache & Lash 5k at one of our favorite courses. Ryan is running the race to honor his mother, who he lost to lung cancer over 3 years ago after a long and hard fought battle. Read more about his story and how you can help here.

We're excited to support our friend and this great cause, especially with all of the support we have received over the years for Team G Shock! Check back next week for updates on how the race went!

Ryan's mother, and Team MLG's motivation.

Event #43 - Army Ten Miler

I can't believe that it has almost been 2 weeks since Dad, Nate and I ran the 29th Army Ten Miler. It was an amazing day and a great race for all of us. This was a special race for Dad as it was the 20th time he has run it. We were so excited to be able to run it with him and the rest of the 35,000 runners.

The Army Ten Miler has always been one of my favorite races for so many reasons. For one, I have always run it with my Dad, which is awesome. Then, you get to run through the streets of DC getting cheered on all along the way by thousands of spectators. And the best part is that everyone running has some connection to the Army, which has held such a special place in my heart. Every single runner is either a soldier, a veteran, a wounded warrior, a family member of a soldier or a supporter of the military. 

Nate & I at the airport in Baltimore. Excited for Race Weekend!

The weekend started with a trip into DC for the race expo to pick up our bib numbers. The expo was busy with runners and we all got our bibs and shirts before checking out some of the booths.

Nate & I at the expo

The Fisher House mascot - Team G Shock LOVES mascots! 

On Sunday, we woke up bright and early to get to the race and parked in what has become our usual spot. There happens to be a fairly large staircase that takes you down towards the Pentagon, which is fine on the way to the race but not the best thing after a 10 mile run. :) 

Downtown DC

Team G Shock's numbers..ready for race day!

We got to the starting area in plenty of time, which was nice even though it was a chilly morning. It was set up differently than the last time we ran the race, with everyone in separate corrals in different areas, but the race was well organized and the start moved along quickly. 

Once we started we all stayed together for the first few miles which was nice, and then Nate and I went out a little bit ahead of Dad. We saw some friends along the course which was fun (they even recognized our Team G Shock shirts!), and the spectators were awesome. There were some really funny signs (my favorites were "worst parade ever" and "you run better than the government") and lots of runners cheering each other on too. A runner even ran by me and asked "so, what race is this?" thanks to our "40 races and counting.." on the back of our new shirts. 

All of the training we did definitely paid off and we all cut some time off of the last time we ran the race 3 years ago. Here are our official results:

18,081st place - Sara Towne - 1:46:24

18,087th place - Nate Towne - 1:46:24

23,813rd place - Joe Ross - 2:07:10

Eaaaaaaarly morning before the race! 

After the race (and the giant staircase!). 

The race capped off a great weekend at home with friends and family, and was another amazing experience for Team G Shock! We're looking forward to more long race experiences, and even some upcoming short ones (more on that, tomorrow!). Keeping checking back for more updates!