SunRun Fun:  I had always desired to run the sun run but life seemed to get in the way. First shift work jobs then, basketball belly followed by bottle refusing babies kept me from my goal. So when M was born I was determined to make a change. Long before I typed my best excuse for not working out on the Urbanmommies website I signed up for this years SunRun training program. Nike supplied the shoes, Fitness On the Go enabled me with no excuse cross training and I supplied the will power and enthusiasm.

I promptly challenged my ex-marathon running father to race…I mean train with me.

He accepted and we started trash talking immediately. I thought he would drop out halfway from exhaustion or laziness but, he didn’t. My dad showed up every Sunday (with the exception of the ones that he was tanning on a beach in Mexico). He was there to support me and to do something necessary for his health. It was quickly determined that he would be the tortoise and I would be the hare except, I wasn’t going to take any naps.

So last Sunday my Dad and I were among the 50,000 people that flooded the downtown core to participate in the 2010 SunRun. It was a perfect day for dodging other runners and celebrating my achievements in the previous 3 months. My auntie Patty stuck by my side and we waved goodbye to my dad at about 2.5 Km. At a steady pace my aunt and I girl-talked our way through the entire race. When we turned the corner off of Cambie Bridge I couldn’t believe that is was over so fast. Could I have run faster? Who knows? As I sprinted to the finish I felt strong and proud. I feel like a new woman. Three months of sleepy Sunday mornings and making it work through life’s chaos has transformed me. I made my way through the crowd to find my husband and both children waiting for me. This was my best and most accomplished Mothers Day ever. Having children has made me everything that I am today. They have taught me patience and perseverance without them I might have never accomplished this.

So where do I go from here? The contest is nearing its end and the SunRun has been run.

I might train for a half-marathon or maybe sign up for another 10km race to improve my time. All I know is that I don’t want all of this hard work to go to waste. So this Sunday morning I didn’t sleep in instead, I went to meet up with new friends from my training clinic and we started the Run 10km faster program.

I started 3 months ago with no running experience and out of breath after 1 minute of exercise and now I want to run FASTER! If  I could accomplish this then you can too! Make the time and make it work!

Official finish time 1hour 4 minutes

My dad limped in about 10 minutes later. Pretty good for an old tortoise like him J

– Stephanie Raposo

Picture: Dad and I ready to race!