Virtual Walk + Forever Family Day

On October 24th, Nate and I, along with a lot of our friends all over the country, will be participating in the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Remembrance Walk. An actual event was held last weekend in Colorado, but luckily for us, they are holding a virtual walk at the end of the month for those of us in other places.

This cause is special to our heart, as NILMDTS has supported some dear friends of ours in what is certainly the hardest time of their lives. They lost their little boy last year, and NILMDTS provided photographs of their family together, a gift that they will cherish forever. Along with that, the support and comfort they have received from the organization and other families has helped them immensely.

Because of our connection to the cause & organization, some friends of ours put together a team for the Virtual Walk. The team is named "Friends of Henry B. Custis" and we're all going to go out on October 24th and trek it in Henry's name. If you'd like to support our team, and the cause, follow this link. Or, if you'd rather, just go out and walk a 5k in Henry's name that day!

In addition to the walk, our friends have come up with a wonderful way to celebrate their sweet boy. They have officially declared October 11th "Forever Family Day", and in doing so have made a holiday that we can all enjoy and spend doing things to celebrate them and their family. Per their own thought - spend the day with those closest to you. Sit down and have a family dinner together, go to the park as a family, be silly and take family photos together, if its warm have a water balloon fight in the backyard, or sit on the front porch and read a story together. Just do something together as a family.

I hope you'll join us in walking on October 24th, and I especially hope you can enjoy Forever Family Day and help celebrate Henry & his family.

Pump...Me Up!

Dad has also been keeping the Team G Shock spirit alive, and he did it most recently in a really fun event up at the beach. 

The races that we always run up there are part of a series that is run all Summer. The last race is always also a Pump N Run event. In this event, if you choose to do the Pump portion, you are weighed before-hand, and based on your bodyweight, they give you a weight that you have to bench press. For every 4 reps that you get, you get 1:00 taken off your 5k time. You do the Pump portion first, and Dad did it, getting 44 reps! As a sidenote, he had the MOST reps out of everyone that did that portion! With all of those reps, he was able to get 11:00 off of his race time for the Pump N Run results.

The Run is held after the Pump portion, and Dad did great in that as well! He got 5th place in his age group for the Run portion only. With his Pump time taken off, he ended up in 2nd place in his age group for everyone that did the Pump N Run. 

Here are his results:

Pump - Joe Ross - 44 reps (11:00 deduction)

Run - Joe Ross - 31:51

Pump N Run - Joe Ross - 20:51

It sounds like a really fun event, and something Nate & I will have to try and do with him sometime!

We'll be back soon with our next race!

West Virginia Runners!

We have been over here with our little man, but I promise we have been thinking about what our next race will be! In the meantime, our family has been keeping the Team G Shock spirit alive!

Drew was out in Seattle for the NCSL conference, and they held a Run/Walk for Wellness during the week. He ran with some coworkers (also from WV), and it looked like a great time, and a nice break from all of the meetings.

Drew Ross - 34:50

Here is a photo from the race of Drew and his buddies.

Not long after that, Drew and Lily took to the streets for the 2015 Sportsfest Glow Run 5k. Lily has been a running machine, and its been fun to get updates from the races her & Drew have done together! It looked like a really fun race, and they did great! They ran together and Lily was able to run to the whole course! Not too shabby for a 6-year-old.

Drew Ross - 43:19

Lily Ross - 43:19

As usual, they sent lots of fun photos! Looks like they had lots of fun along the way!

Dad's run a race too since the last update, so keep an eye out for that soon! 

Happy Father's Day!

As we near Father's Day, we wanted to take a quick second to wish the Dad's in our lives a very Happy Day! :) We started this team to help the cause when my Dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, and we've loved everything we've been able to do with it. But we've especially loved how our friends and families have gotten involved and helped us along the way! We couldn't have done what we have so far, without them!

So to Dad R and Dad T (as we like to call them) - we hope you have a wonderful day, and we're excited for you both to be able to use the term Grandpa soon (or Pop Pop, or whatever you decide on!). And to my brother Drew - a Happy Day to you as well! Thanks for making us an Aunt & an Uncle, and can't wait for you to join the club!

Mom & Dad R - almost Grandparents to 3 little ones!

Mom & Dad T - soon to be Grandparents!

Drew & his newest lady :) 

And a special Father's Day shout out to my hubby - the biggest supporter of Team G Shock (I mean heck, he's run all but 1 of our 49 races with me...or at least ahead of me). I am so excited for our little man to meet you and get to have you as his Daddy. It's going to be quite an adventure and there is no one I would rather be on it with than you.

This was our Happy Due Date (40 weeks!) photo on Friday!

**Disclaimer - I wrote this post early (on Friday), and may or may not have had our baby boy by the time this gets posted!

Marmet 5k Fun Run & Walk

On the same Saturday that my brother Geoff ran the Lawyers Have Heart 5k, my other brother Drew and my niece Lily ran the Marmet 5k Fun Run & Walk. Not too long ago, in March, Drew & Lily ran another race which was Lily’s first official race. She’s been a Team G Shock cheerleader for years, so its fun that she is getting out there herself now!

This race benefited the WV Kids Cancer Crusaders, who support children and families fighting the results of pediatric cancer. Obviously we have a soft spot for all cancer charities at Team G Shock, so we were really glad they were able to run for such an amazing cause!

There was a good crowd at the race, and Drew & Lily made their way through the course together. Here are the unofficial results:

Drew Ross – 43:00
Lily Ross – 43:00

That is a 2-minute improvement on Lily’s first race time, not too shabby for a 6-year-old!

And as usual, we were able to get lots of photos from their cheerleaders, so enjoy those!

Dad & Daughter before!

Ready to run!

Run Run Run!

Gettin' close..

Crossing the finish line together!

After!

A much deserved post-race treat!

The race even wore out our newest cheerleader, Layni!

Soon enough Nate & I will be back out there, and can't wait to run another race for Team G Shock! In the meantime, we very much appreciate that our family has taken up the cause for us! 

Lawyers Have Heart 5k

Last Saturday, both of my brothers (and our oldest niece) ran in 5k’s, and we couldn’t let that happen without a mention of it here on Team G Shock! While we not-so-patiently wait for Baby Towne to make his arrival, we’re glad someone is keeping up the running!

Geoff was up bright & early on Saturday to run the Lawyers Have Heart 5k, which benefits the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. This year was the 25th year that the race has been run, and they have raised almost $10 million in that time for a great cause!

And it looks like we’ll have some training to do to catch up to Geoff once we get back out there – it’s been a while! Here are his results:

222nd place – Geoff Ross – 27:07

There were over 1,500 runners, so that’s not too shabby! And lucky for us, Geoff’s girlfriend Emily was on hand to capture a few photos!

Before & ready to run!

After!

Up next, an update on Drew & Lily’s race! Keep an eye out…

Justin's Beach House 5k Run

This past Memorial Day weekend, my parents were up at the beach, and my Dad took the opportunity to run another 5k for Team G Shock! This was the first time he had run this race, but Justin's Beach House is pretty well known in the Bethany Beach community, so he was glad he was able to join in! The house is set up to allow families of cancer patients to enjoy some much needed relaxation time, free of the stresses of treatment. To learn more about Justin's story, read the background they've included on the website here or check out their Facebook page.

Mom & Dad had been up at the beach for a day or so already, and had some friends coming in later that morning, but took off for the race bright & early. The race was held in downtown Bethany, and ended on the boardwalk. It sounds like there were almost 1,000 runners, which in the small town of Bethany, is pretty impressive! Dad had a GREAT race, and luckily Mom was around to catch a few photos and cheer him on!

Here are the official results:

404th place - Joe Ross - 31:43

And here are the photos that Mom took (and look at that background - heaven!):

Before...

After!

And here is a photo I found on the event facebook page...the Finish Line!

source

Photo by: Rita Dvoynikova

We're glad Dad and others can keep Team G Shock going until we can get back out there! Looking forward to running a race WITH him hopefully soon!

3rd Annual Fox Trot for Parkinson's Research 5k Run

I know we have been pretty radio silent here on Team G Shock. As I mentioned in one of the last posts, Nate and I have been busy preparing for Baby Towne’s arrival (just a few weeks away now!!), so our running time has been minimal. And by minimal I mean non-existent. I have been sidelined for obvious reasons, and since our next race will be race #50, we wanted to wait until we could both run it together! Hard to believe this little idea that started with 10 races is almost to 50! Whew. Who would have guessed that two people who weren’t runners (and their very supportive family and friends) could have knocked out so many races?? We’re excited to get it up and going once baby boy gets here!

In the meantime, our family has kept up the running, which is great! Back in March, my brother Drew and our niece Lily ran a race in WV and we couldn’t miss posting about it. We love when people get out there in their Team G Shock shirts, and were even more excited that it was Lily’s very first race! She’s been a cheerleader for Team G Shock many times, so it is so fun that she finally got out there herself!

The race supported the Michael J. Fox foundation and Parkinson’s research in WV. It was held in downtown Charleston, and was followed up a Green Chili competition – yum!! Drew & Lily ran with some coworkers of Drew’s as part of the team “Capitol Domeheads” – they work together at the capitol building in Charleston!

Here are the official results:

106^th place – Drew Ross – 45:02

107^th place – Lily Ross – 45:02

And luckily, Drew’s Mom-in-Law Debbie was able to get some photos (thanks Debbie!!). 

Debbie, Lily, Jenny (and Baby Elayna!)

Lily, Drew, Jenny (and Baby Elayna!) before

Jenny (and Baby Elayna), Drew, and Lily after

 The Capitol Domeheads (source)

We are sorry for the lack of posts & activity, but we will be back! Some friends of mine are already looking at some longer races to run in the future, which I will need some time to prep for, but its fun to think about again! In the meantime, we'll be waiting on Baby Boy to make his arrival! 

Baby Boy's first baseball game with the Nashville Sounds!

Event #49 - Virginia Run Turkey Trot

For our 49^th race, we made our way to Virginia for Thanskgiving, and ran the Virginia Run Turkey Trot with my family for the third time. It has become somewhat of a tradition for the Ross family, and this year was no exception! This year, my sister-in-law Jenny walked with me, while the guys all ran the race. The walk took a different course through the woods, so that was a nice relaxing walk for the two of us. It was a pretty cold day, so I would have almost rather have been running just to stay warm!

Nate, Dad, Geoff & Drew all ran, and did really well! The race was crowded as always (almost 3,000 people participated!), but they made their way through, and we were able to see a couple of them finish up after our walk.

Here are the official results:

Nate Towne – 476^th place – 25:55

Joe Ross – 1,047^th place – 29:45

Geoff Ross – 1,715^th place – 33:56

Drew Ross – 2,232^nd place – 40:00

Sara Towne – Walked

Jenny Parsons – Walked

And as usual, a few pictures from the day...

The runners before - Nate, Geoff, Drew & Dad

The walkers before - it was cold! Me & Jenny

Me & Nate before!

We had our own course for the walk!

The runners after! Nate, Geoff, Dad & Drew

The walkers after - still cold!

We had a great rest of the holiday at home with my family, and even got to bring Shelby with us, which is always fun. Since then we’ve been enjoying some time at home, and trying to stay warm through this frigid winter! 

More updates and races to come soon...

Event #48 - Breathe Deep Stache & Lash 5k

Another long overdue post, but the holidays flew by and here we are more than halfway through January, and I’ve still got 2 races to post about from NOVEMBER. Whoops! In fairness, we have had some distractions in the last few months, which have taken our minds elsewhere. It has also slowed me way down, which is why there have been fewer races. But all that to say, Nate & I are over the moon to say that we will be welcoming Baby Towne this coming June, and we can’t wait! J So for the next few updates, you will see that I participated, but by walking, and now you will know why!

The first race we are overdue for an update on, was The Breathe Deep Stache & Lash 5k that we ran as part of Team MLG with our friends Ryan & Becky Gardenhire. Hard to believe we have run almost 50 races! 

It was a nice day at the race, and Team MLG was well represented! Lucky for me, since I was walking, there were a number of other people walking (babies and dogs included!), so I had plenty of company. And Nate not only ran by himself (not that I can keep up with him much anymore), but he set ANOTHER PR! The race was at our favorite course, Shelby Park, and we generally have good runs there, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise, but he just keeps knocking down his PR time, which is fun to watch!

Here are the official results:

Nate Towne – 10^th place – 24:54

Sara Towne – Walked 

And since I was walking, we got a lot of photos during the race to share...

Before!

Some support for Ryan & Team MLG along the way!

Nate in action!

More support for Team MLG & Ryan's Mama!

After with the PR star! 

And rockin' our Team MLG shirts!

Nate was pretty pleased with his PR.

Another long overdue update is coming soon, so don’t go too far!