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How I Got Into a runDisney Meet-Up

by Melanie Adams

Squeeeeeee!!!! I’m so excited! Yesterday was a great day because I got into my very first runDisney meet-up, which is pretty much like hitting the runDisney lottery. This is something I’ve wanted about as long as I’ve wanted to do a runDisney race, which is as long as I’ve been running.

runDisney

Traditionally, these meet-ups have taken place early in the morning before the expo opens on marathon and half marathon weekends at Disney Parks. A week or two before the event, a post will appear on the Disney Parks Blog that will instruct those interested to send an email to a designated email address. Once the blog post goes up, runDisney will send out a tweet telling people to go visit the blog. Usually the tweet happens about a minute after the blog post goes up, although not always. Disney doesn’t say exactly when this will happen, but they usually send out a series of “teaser” tweets alerting everyone that the time is close. So, people will literally stalk the blog for days for their chance. They fill up so fast that usually if you don’t send the email within 2-3 minutes of the blog post going up, you are out of luck. Even then, it comes down to whose emails got there the fastest. I honestly never thought I’d actually get in, so I’m thrilled!

Here’s how it went down. I’m off work this week with no plans and nowhere to go, which almost never happens. I originally had the week before last off and was going to do fall cleaning on my house. I had a hunch that the meet-up post for the upcoming Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend would happen this week, so I figured I could fall clean this week as good as I could two weeks ago and moved my vacation to this week. That would put me in a better position to at least be watchful. I had my Twitter alerts set so that I would get a notification for all runDisney tweets, and I already had an email drafted from my gmail account (I’ve read that gmail sends faster than yahoo). I really wasn’t expecting the post until later in the week, but I was as prepared as I could be.

Yesterday morning, I had to go to my weekly Rotary Club meeting. I am the President, and our District Governor was coming for his official annual visit. So, I couldn’t skip that. About 20 minutes into the meeting, the first (and what ended up being the only) “teaser” tweet came.

Teaser Tweet

I thought to myself, “Please don’t do this now! This is literally the only obligation I have all week!” So, I went ahead and pulled up my email draft so it would be ready for “go time”. After the meeting was over, I had to have my official photo taken with our District Governor, and of course, his wife had to take about a bazillion photos (it was probably only 2). I shook his hand, thanked him for coming, said a few pleasantries to his wife, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my phone on the table light up. I practically leaped over to it and saw that it was the Twitter notification for THE tweet!

THE Tweet

I didn’t even read it. I went straight to my email, hit send, watch the circle go round and round for what felt like 5 minutes (more like 20 seconds) and THEN went back to read the tweet. I then read the blog post to make sure they hadn’t changed anything about the method to register for it (they hadn’t).

It was also then that I saw it was going to be the very first nighttime meet-up and would feature a viewing area for attendees to watch Illuminations, Epcot’s nightly fireworks and laser show. Attendees would then get to sample food and wine featured as part of Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival and hear Olympic athletes share training and nighttime running tips. The evening would be capped by a run through an empty Epcot and many other surprises. This was one meet-up I wanted to get in very badly! Not only is the Wine and Dine Half Marathon my inspiration race and the reason I started running 2 years ago, the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is my favorite event at Disney.

So, for the next 3+ hours, I anxiously waited for them to post the list of attendees! I hoped with every ounce of hope I had that my name would be on the list. I knew I sent the email as fast as I possibly could, but did it get there fast enough? Finally, the list was up, and I found my name there!

I made the list!

So, in a couple of weeks when I head down to the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend, my trip will begin with this awesome event, and I cannot be more excited!

This cute pic was in the teaser tweet.

I’ll be tweeting live and posting on Instagram during the event so make sure you follow me if you want to join the fun. Look for a blog post later about it, too!

Have you ever done a runDisney meet-up?

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I’m a charity athlete raising funds for St. Jude. To donate, visit my personal fund-raising page here.

Races runDisney Running

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Tap N Run 4k Memphis

by Melanie Adams

Yesterday I did the Tap N Run 4k Memphis, which was a beer run. It sounded like a good idea at first. Beer before noon can’t be all that bad, right? Except for the event wasn’t in the morning. It was at 2 pm in the afternoon. It still didn’t sound too bad. After all, October afternoons are pretty nice. Yeah! Turns out it was almost 90 degrees with 80-something percent humidity, and what appeared to be an overcast day turned into full sun by 2 pm. It was HOT! It was still fun, though.

Tap N Run 4k Course Map

Basically, you drink your way through the race. You get a small beer to toast the start, about 6 ounces.

The Volunbeers are getting the cups of beer ready for the start.

Then, you get another small beer at each of 2 water, uh, beer stops, called Beer Chugs.

Beer Chugs were in place of water stops. Water was available, too, though.

Then, after the finish, you get a full-sized can of beer. The beer was surprisingly refreshing on the hot day. The first beer at the start was Schlafly Ale. The first Beer Chug had an orange beer, which was delicious! It was so refreshing! I wish I knew what it was so I can buy it. I asked but the volunteers (called Volunbeers) didn’t know. The second Beer Chug had Pabst Blue Ribbon, and at the end, you got your choice of Miller Light or Coors Light.

The costumes were nuts!

So many fun costumes in the crowd!

I saw many groups dressed in all the Mario characters.

Funny!

Monsters U was well represented, and I saw Thing One and Thing Two. Because it started and ended on Beale Street downtown, there were many tourists spectating. One tourist asked what was going on, and someone responded that it was just a typical afternoon in downtown Memphis. It was funny!

Everyone got a finisher’s medal, too, which doubles as a bottle opener. Always useful!

The medal doubles as a bottle opener!

One of my favorite things about this run is that since it wasn’t timed, I took some pics that I wouldn’t normally take time to snap, like the finish line!

Fed Ex Forum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team

New Daisy Theater

Old Daisy Theater

Finish Line

Have you ever done a beer run?

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I’m a charity athlete raising money for St. Jude. To make a donation, click here.

Memphis Races Running Uncategorized

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2012 Tower of Terror 10 Miler

by Melanie Adams

This time next week, thousands of runners from all over the world will be at Walt Disney World for the second Tower of Terror 10 Miler. My very first long-ish race was the Inaugural Tower of Terror 10 Miler last year. Since I wasn’t blogging yet back then, I didn’t do a race report. So, I thought, better late than never!

Tower of Terror 10 Miler

I was so incredibly nervous for this race since it was my first double-digit race. I had done the training but was still very fearful of the dreaded sweepers. Disney has a strict 16 minute mile pace requirement, and while that is a generous requirement, I’m pace challenged to say the least. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop for pictures, and even a potty break was questionable. There were only 4 corrals for the race last year, and I was in C, meaning I would only have a 7 minute lead on the sweepers to start with. Still, I went into the race completely confident in my ability and in my training.

I arrived at the expo as early as I possibly could. Like everything at Disney, you must strategize if you are going to get the most out of it. My plan was to hit the runDisney merchandise booth, get my packets and shirts, and then meander around the rest of the expo to see if there was anything else I was interested in buying. Because I was staying at a host resort, I was able to take provided transportation to the expo.

Tower of Terror 10 Miler transportation board at the resort

Even though I got the earliest bus I could, lines were already longish by the time I got there. It already resembled disorganized chaos. However, my plan worked fairly well. I got all the merchandise I wanted, my dad and I got our packets and shirts (he and I also ran the 5k so I had 2 packets to get), and we even got to see one of Jeff Galloway’s presentations. All this and we were in and out in about an hour and a half, maybe two. Not bad!

Race Shirt and Bib

The next day was the big day. For night races, the 5k and the main race are held on the same day, which makes for a long day if doing both. I wanted to get the most out of the experience so I did both. Dad and I were up around 3:30, I think, in order to be at the buses by 5. The pre-race festivities were fun with Farmer Mickey photo opps, a DJ, and fun Halloween decorations. The race went through the woods of the Wide World of Sports complex. I thought it was a pretty boring course with very few character photo stops. After we finished, we got our medals, snack box, etc. and headed for the buses back to the resort.

Dad and I after the 5k

The rest of the day was spent resting up for the big night. I began to get ready around 5 pm and got on a bus at 7.

Tower of Terror 10 Miler flat me

Ready to run!

The pre-race staging area was a big party, and some racers were already drinking. I’m sure they regretted that later. I headed straight for the corrals because I wanted to be at the front. By the time I got into position, it was only about an hour until the start so I made a few friends in my corral and took it easy, trying to relax. Before I knew it, it was time for the walk down to the start.

The thing I remember most was the heat and humidity. My plan was to run a minute and a half and walk a minute all throughout the race. That’s how I had trained and felt confident I could stay within the pace requirements with this. However, a mile and a half in, I was finding it hard to breathe. Not only was it so hot and humid, the course was so crowded, I felt like I couldn’t even get my share of air. By mile 3 I had abandoned my intervals and ended up walking the rest of the race. I stayed in front of the sweepers until somewhere between miles 6 and 7. Luckily for me, mile 7 was the last hard cut off point, and I was just barely behind them so they let me through. That was too close for comfort, though. I think they only let about 20 people behind me through. I didn’t stop for any pictures, and I didn’t even stop to potty. Considering I walked all but the first 3 miles, it was so hot and humid, and I could barely breathe, I’d say finishing was a win. I think about 25% of the participants didn’t. I was so worried they would run out of medals that by the time I got into Hollywood Studios, I kept asking all the volunteers if there were medals left. Yes, I know that’s silly. Crowd support was heavy around the hat in the Studios and I almost cried. Everyone was yelling and cheering, and since I was one of the last finishers with no one else around me, they were all literally cheering for me. The finish line was right behind the Tower of Terror but by then I was so exhausted I didn’t even notice it. I wish I had. It would have made for a great photo.

Photo my dad took of me at the finish. Notice I lost my head band somewhere along the way.

All I wanted when I finished was to get back to the room. I had planned on staying for the after party, getting some food, riding some rides (Tower of Terror, hello!) and maybe getting my medal engraved. It just didn’t happen. I was afraid if I didn’t get back to the resort immediately, I would never make it. That was probably the right call, too, because lots of runners got very sick afterward due to dehydration and heat exhaustion.

I don’t remember much about the course itself. For some reason I’ve blocked so much of it out of my memory. I know I did it. I know I was there. However, I’d never be able to prove it by sworn testimony. I do know that in comparison to the Princess Half Marathon, there were very few character stops and little on course entertainment. I hope they change this because the theming has the chance to be outstanding. Some changes runDisney has made for this year’s race based on last year’s event are that they moved it back a week in hopes that the weather would be enough better to at least be manageable and to have LOTS more corrals to help with course crowding.

Overall, I don’t think I’d ever want to do this race again. I’m happy to have done it the first time. The medal is absolutely awesome! I mean, it has a MOVING elevator, and parts of it glow in the dark! If I hear reports of the theming reaching its full potential, I MIGHT be persuaded to do it again. I really wish I could have stayed for the after party. I REALLY hope I’m in good enough shape after the upcoming Wine and Dine Half Marathon to stay for that one.

I felt much more human the next day.

Did you do the Inaugural Tower of Terror 10 Miler? Are you doing this one?

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I’m raising money for St. Jude as a charity athlete. To make a donation, click here.

Races runDisney Running

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Memphis Brooks Museum Avant Garde Party

by Melanie Adams

Last Sunday, I attended the Memphis Brooks Museum Avant Garde Party, an annual event for fellow level members and above. I had really been looking forward to it, and it did not disappoint!

When we arrived, there was a red carpet to welcome us, which was fun!

Red Carpet for Brooks Museum Avant Garde Party

We were greeted with our choice of wine or champagne before we ever even entered the museum.

Welcome glass of wine or champagne

That’s my idea of a welcome! There was live entertainment set up inside the museum as well as on the patio.

Live Entertainment

They also had these neat little lounges arranged all over the place, indoors and out.

Several lounges were set up all over the party.

The atmosphere was really artsy and fun!

The food was insane! Servers were walking around carrying trays of things. I had cold shrimp with a lemon vinaigrette, a sausage and rice ball with spicy mustard, and the single best thing of the night, which was crostini with tomato jam, smoked pork, and a verde sauce. Yum! Then there were several tables of food set up, too.

Lots of food!

Sandwiches, carving stations, potato bites, stuffed mushrooms, fried oysters, shrimp and grits, smoked chicken salad with roasted beets, and grilled veggie skewers were all there and more!

Grilled veggie skewers

Desserts included a watermelon and feta salad, custard bars, and some sort of yogurt soup with blueberries. It was all so very good!

Drinks were freely flowing as well. One of the stars was a station serving mint julep snow cones.

Mint Julep Snow Cones

These would be so perfect on a hot summer day. There was also a bourbon bar with about 7 different kinds of bourbon set up.

Bourbon Bar

I tried a honey bourbon and a blackberry bourbon. I was so surprised at how different bourbons can be. I didn’t think I liked it other than in a mint julep (shocker since I went to college in Kentucky) but now I think I’m a bourbon convert. They had the main bars set up on the patio serving wine, beer, martinis and a couple of specialty cocktails they made for the event. The one I tried was called a Lazy Sunday Afternoon and featured basil vodka.

They also had corn hole set up on the patio, which we didn’t get a chance to play. They had a ring toss game set up inside that we did play.

Ring Toss

We were given three rings each, and if we were able to toss one of our three rings onto a bottle, we got a Carroll Cloar poster (the summer exhibit at the museum). I was lucky and won a poster!

This was also the last opportunity to tour the Carroll Cloar exhibit so I had to take one last peek at it.

Carroll Cloar Exhibit

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Brooks Museum Memphis

How to Get into a Sold Out Disney Race

by Melanie Adams

runDisney races have become so popular that they often sell out the first day registration opens.

runDisney

Since registration can open up to 8 months before the event, you have to be an uber planner to get in lately. I love to plan, just not always that far in advance. With the exception of the Inaugural Tower of Terror 10 Miler, all 4 of the other runDisney races I’ve registered for have been more of an afterthought, months after registration opened. Lucky for me at the time, the races weren’t selling out in a day and I was able to get into the ones I wanted.

My luck ran out when I decided I wanted to run in the Inaugural Minnie 10k being held during Marathon Weekend next year.

2014 will be the Inaugural Minnie 10k

I had not initially intended to participate in Marathon Weekend at all. With a half marathon planned in October, November, and December, my mind and body could not handle January, too. That all changed when some of my runner friends suggested volunteering. We could split the room 4 ways and I could fly virtually free on miles, making it a fairly inexpensive trip. I have to admit, the thought of enjoying a runDisney weekend without any pressure was appealing, as was the different perspective. I was in!

Of course it wasn’t long until my thoughts turned to running again. I still was not willing to take on another half, but the Minnie 10k started looking better and better.

Bling makes everything better.

Even though it was already sold out, I knew that closer to the event, people would back out, and I’d likely be able to buy a spot from someone else. The thought totally crossed my mind to do this, but it’s not ideal for several reasons.

It’s against the rules! runDisney has a policy against bib transfers from one runner to another. Rumor has it that anyone caught buying or selling a bib in this manner can be banned from runDisney events for life. I don’t believe I’ve ever actually read this in black and white, and I know I’ve never heard of anyone who actually got banned for this reason. However, rules are rules, and that’s the rule. No bib transfers!
Lack of recourse. These “illegal” bib sales can happen months before the event. Even if you use PayPal, often the time to file a claim has expired before you would ever know there was a problem. Unless you happen to be lucky enough to know the person you are buying from, you are trusting a complete stranger to be honest and deliver on their part when it’s time for the expo and bib pick-up.
Wrong name on your bib. Ok, this may not be a big deal to some, but I bet if you are a guy named John, you don’t want to run wearing a bib with the name Heather on it.
runDisney can choose to crack down on the rules at any time. They could easily say only the registrant picks up the packet, meaning you could have paid someone for a bib you can’t even pick up. Do I think they will do this without warning? No. With Disney’s track record for changing things with little or no notice, I don’t think I’d want to chance it, though. Edit: runDisney has, in fact, changed the rules, and starting with Avengers weekend at Disneyland in November 2014, they no longer allow packets to be picked up by anyone other than the person registered.

So, what to do? The answer is right on the runDisney website. You can register through various charities and/or travel groups. Yes, a lot of the charities ask you to raise thousands of dollars, often in exchange for race entry fees, accommodations, even air fare and other amenities. There are some, though, that just ask you to raise a few hundred dollars in exchange for race fees only. Then there are the travel groups. Many require you to book your entire trip with them in order to buy the race entry. However, there are some that will just let you register for the race, hoping you will book something with them at some point. At any rate, you do have to dig through the lists to figure out what the requirements are for each one. I found one travel group that didn’t list what they had available or what the requirements were. I just had to fill out an interest form online telling them what I wanted. Within a couple of hours, I got an email back saying they had a Minnie 10k registration available, and for me to call them to get it set up. I called, still thinking they might at least want me to buy park tickets from them in order to get the registration. Nope! I gave them my information, paid only the race entry fee, and got my Active confirmation the next day. I could hardly believe that I had just successfully, legally, and in my name, obtained an entry for a race that had been sold out for months. Two of my other friends also registered for other sold out runDisney races using these methods.

The moral of the story is that you do not have to buy a bib under the table and run in someone else’s name. Just do a little digging and research and you can either book through a travel group or find a great charity to help support.

Course map for 2014 10k

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Charities Races runDisney Running

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Remembering 9/11

by Melanie Adams

It’s hard to imagine that it’s already been 12 years since that terrible day. I still remember where I was, what I was doing and even what I was wearing. I walked into work, about 5 minutes late. My boss called me over to his desk. Thinking I was about to get reprimanded for being late, I tentatively walked over there. He pointed to the radio we always kept on in the office. He asked if I had heard. I had not. I listened. A few moments later, we heard the second tower had been hit. A little later, we heard about the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. I knew we were under attack, but who? Why? We didn’t have access to a TV, only the radio. All I wanted to do was get to a TV to soak in everything I could learn. That was the longest working day of my life.

Earlier this week, my friend Jennie, who moved to Ohio last year shared that every year on 9/11 she would take cookies or other treats to the fire station in downtown Memphis as a thank you. Since she is not here to do that this year, she asked that her friends remember their local fire fighters and police officers and take something to thank them for their service. I work right across the street from a fire station here in Memphis, so I decided I would do just that. I got a card, and had everyone in the office sign it, and I baked chocolate chip cookies for them.

Fresh baked cookies for fire fighters

I put the cookies on a patriotic plate to deliver to the fire fighters.

A coworker and I delivered them and they were so appreciative!

A coworker and I delivered the cookies.

Those guys were soooooo much fun, too! They were cracking jokes, and were just full of energy.

The lawn to the fire station was decorated, too. They had the FDNY letters on the lawn in stars and stripes.

The FDNY letters covered the lawn of the fire station right across the street from where I work.

The flag was flying at half-staff.

The flag flying at half-staff on 9/11

They had flags in the ground representing the fire fighters and police officers who lost their lives in the tragedy. They also had a poster with all of their photos.

Poster remembering the fire fighters and police officers who lost their lives on 9/11/01

I’m so glad I did this! I was hoping to make their day but they ended up making mine! Thanks for the great idea, Jennie!

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I am raising money for the kids of St. Jude as a charity athlete. To donate, click here.

Memphis

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St. Jude Hospital Tour

by Melanie Adams

This past Saturday I got the opportunity to tour St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, right here in Memphis, TN. As most of you know, I love St. Jude, they are my favorite charity, and I do all I can to support them. As you can imagine, I was super excited to get to see the hospital first-hand and learn more about the wonderful things they are doing there.

At the entrance to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital stands a statue of St. Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes.

First of all, I learned that St. Jude is the patron saint of hopeless causes. Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Hospital, was a devout Catholic. As a struggling actor, he once gave his last $7 to the Catholic church and later prayed to St. Jude to help him find his way. His prayer included a promise that he would build a St. Jude shrine. After becoming a successful actor, he kept his word, and the hospital was the shrine he built. One of my friends asked, why Memphis? Well, it was important to Danny Thomas that the hospital not discriminate for any reason. This is even more important because the time period in which the hospital was founded was at the height of the civil rights movement, and sensitivities were very high. Not only was Memphis centrally located, being on the Mississippi River, having a major airport and train station, but he wanted to make a civil rights statement as well.

A bust of Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude, is on display in the hospital. His nose is brighter than the rest because visitors often rub it for luck.

I knew that no family is ever asked to pay for anything at St. Jude, but I didn’t know the measures the hospital takes to make sure the family has zero financial burden, even after treatment. See, cancer treatment can cause other health issues, such as hearing, vision, and even dental problems. St. Jude employs all kinds of doctors and nurses so that the family doesn’t have to go outside the hospital for these other issues. They also make many of their own medicines and have pharmacy licenses in 48 states. Once the child is done with treatment at the hospital and is back home, St. Jude can send their medicines to them, also free of charge. They’ve even covered the toll an illness like this can take on the family, a marriage, and the child’s siblings. They have social workers to provide counseling.

Every part of the hospital is designed with children in mind, and not just young children. Counters, desks, and even some ceilings are lowered so the child doesn’t feel so small. Waiting rooms are more like dream play rooms. They have arcades for teenagers and even a lounge area just for teens and their siblings, no parents allowed. They even have a high school prom every year for the teens that had to miss theirs due to their illness.

Mirror, Mirror is a poem written by a patient and is on display in the patient art gallery.

I also learned that there are 8 executive chefs in the city of Memphis, and 4 of them work at St. Jude. That means that as a patient and employee of St. Jude, you are going to eat very well. No icky hospital dinners here! Another interesting note about the cafeteria is that Danny Thomas wanted the doctors, nurses, patients and families to all dine together. He didn’t want a separate eating area for the doctors. He wanted the doctors and nurses to be as close to the patients as possible because he felt it would make them better at their jobs.

There is also a pavilion on the campus that is more like a museum of the history of St. Jude and Danny’s life. Here, you’ll find awards such as Emmys and even Danny’s Hollywood Star. They also hold special events here such as the prom I spoke of earlier.

These Emmys belonging to Danny Thomas are on display in the St. Jude Pavilion.

Danny Thomas’s Hollywood Star

There are so many things I learned about St. Jude, I could go on and on. I will leave you with this, though. Once a child is finished with chemo, he or she gets a very special No Mo’ Chemo party. Nurses and volunteers sing a song to the tune of the old Oscar Meyer bologna jingle. Here are the lyrics.

Our patients have the cutest S-M-I-L-Es.

Our patients have the sweetest H-E-A-R-Ts.

Oh we love to see you every day

But now’s the time we get to say

Pack up your bags, get out the door.

You don’t need chemo anymore.

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I am raising money as a charity athlete for St. Jude. To donate, click here.

Charities Memphis St. Jude

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Labor Day Stew

by Melanie Adams

I am super behind on all the things I want to blog about. I hope to get you all caught up this week on what I’ve been up to. Last week was a holiday week (Happy Labor Day!) and I hope everyone enjoyed their short week/long weekend if you got one. I certainly did, but that also means a busy week of playing catch up!

I thought I’d share with you how I spent my Labor Day. I’m not sure about the back story of this or if it’s even really a “thing” but where I grew up, Labor Day Stew was a tradition. There was a church close to where I lived as a child (where my parents still live) that would sell stew every Labor Day as a fund-raiser. The men of the church would get up early and start cooking in kettle pots over an open fire. This was the best stuff ever! You had to bring your own container to put it in, and my dad would get a big gallon jug of it. I’m not sure when they stopped doing that, but for years we missed it and craved it.

Then, probably about 15 years ago, we went to Charleston, SC to visit my college friend, Amy, and her husband, Dan. We went to Disney World right after that and passed through Brunswick, GA. I picked up a recipe card there for Brunswick Stew. My dad tried his hand at making it that fall, and it’s been a hit with my family ever since. He has tweaked the recipe a bit through the years, though I won’t share his changes. I’m not sure I even know all of the changes.

We picked this recipe up for Brunswick Stew about 15 years ago, and it’s now a family fave!

About three or four years ago, my cousin resurrected the Labor Day Stew tradition at her house, using my uncle’s (her father) recipe.

My cousin set up tables in her garage for the Labor Day Stew.

She and her husband once again cooked it up in a huge cast iron kettle pot over an open flame, a gas one.

My cousin and her husband cook the stew in a huge cast iron pot over a gas flame.

Enough stew to feed a small army!

They invited lots of family and friends over, and we had the stew, sandwiches, chips, cookies and brownies. Often, it’s a little cool on Labor Day but this time it was almost too hot for the stew. Regardless of the temperature, it’s never too hot for an old tradition.

More food to go along with the stew

Do you have any family food traditions?

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Family Holidays Recipes

Elvis Presley 5k Race Recap and a PR

by Melanie Adams

Graceland, here in Memphis, is like Mecca for Elvis fans.

Graceland

Every August, thousands upon thousands of Elvis fanatics from all over the world converge upon Memphis to pay homage to the King of Rock and Roll.

Banners outside of Graceland

The week-long celebration culminates with a 5k that starts and finishes at the Graceland entrance. This is one of Memphis’s biggest 5ks and is one of the few, if not the only 5k where dressing in costume is acceptable. There is even a contest for the best Elvis male and female. It’s great for people-watching.

Elvis Presley 5k run/walk

Interestingly, if you ask Memphis locals, most of us have never been to Graceland. Those that I know who have been, went with out-of-town guests they were entertaining. So, this area of town is very touristy and going there almost felt like I was on a vacation, with all the kitschy souvenir shops and Elvis-themed hotels and restaurants.

Elvis shops line the street in front of Graceland.

Souvenir shops are filled with everything Elvis.

Something else funny is that I ran this race last year and didn’t even notice I was in front of Graceland. Talk about tunnel vision!

Last year I loved seeing all the Elvis costumes and sunglasses so much that I decided to join in the fun this year. I had a pink Sparkle Skirt that I sewed a poodle onto to make a poodle skirt. I added a black initial to a white tech top, tied a pink-with-white-polka-dots bandana in my hair, and I was all set.

Flat me, ready for the 5k

I got lots of compliments on my outfit, even though it was more 50s inspired than Elvis inspired.

The course itself is a really great course. It’s mostly flat with a few hills scattered in. Most of the course is actually through the residential areas around Graceland so it’s fairly well shaded. Several of the home owners had their water hoses out to spray down the runners, keeping us cool. Even though it was a nice day this year with temps in the low 70s and overcast, it still felt great to get sprayed down every now and then. One highlight was seeing the Navy captains run in formation for the entire race.

Navy Captains lining up for the start.

They did this last year, too, and it’s so fun to watch. Of course, running next to Navy men is never a bad thing!

The after party was so much fun, too. Post-race food was Krispy Kreme donuts, bananas, bags of white cheddar pop corn, pasta with meat sauce and alfredo sauce, smoothies, bagels, water, and freely flowing beer.

Post-Race Pasta

Gotta love a truck with a tap right on the side!

At the awards ceremony, they gave $100 each to the best male and female Elvis tribute runner. The female winner ran the entire race in gold leggings. I can’t imagine how hot and sticky that was! The male winner ran in white patent leather shoes. Talk about blisters and sore feet! He didn’t seem to mind, though.

The Female Elvis Costume winner went to the one of the right in the gold leggings.

Those are white patent leather shoes the Male Elvis Costume winner wore.

The only negative was that a few days before the race, they sent an email saying the first 800 finishers would receive a medal. I think if any race gives out finishers medals, they should be for all finishers, not just the top 800. With over 1100 finishers, that leaves a lot of people out. The race director put on Facebook that the reason was due to expenses and they wanted as much money as possible to go to the charity, Livitup. I can appreciate wanting to maximize the charitable donation. At the same time, if you can’t afford medals for all, don’t offer them period. Medals were not mentioned on the event website and were not advertised at all so they would not have been expected had that email not been sent. It’s really not that big of a deal, but it did put a damper on a really fun event.

I was really happy with my race performance.

Post-Race Pic–all I need is a milkshake with a cherry on top.

I got a PR, which I’ve managed to do at every 5k I’ve run this year except for one. I really hope this trend continues for my half marathons this fall.

Do you have a favorite local race?

Follow me on Twitter @myglasssneaker.

Like my Facebook page www.facebook.com/MyGlassSneaker.

I’m a charity athlete raising money for St. Jude. To make a donation, visit my personal fund-raising page here.

Memphis Races Running

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St. Jude Heroes Fund-Raising Kickoff Breakfast

by Melanie Adams

This past Saturday I had the privilege of attending the St. Jude Heroes Kickoff Breakfast at Lichterman Nature Center in Memphis.I attended last year’s breakfast as well, and I must say they kicked it up a notch this year. I’m so excited about all the things they have planned to support us through this fund-raising and training season.

Lichterman Nature Center

The only money St. Jude receives from the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend is the money raised by Heroes. All of the registration money goes to pay for the event itself. I didn’t know this until last year. All someone has to do to become a Hero for St. Jude is commit to raising funds. The success of the Heroes program has made the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend the biggest single fund-raising event of the organization, even bigger than their Dream Home campaign. Because of the success of the Heroes program around this event, St. Jude has expanded its Heroes program to include other athletic events around the country, including the Chicago Marathon, NYC Marathon, and even the Boston Marathon. That’s right! Can’t qualify by time? You can fund-raise your way into Boston with St. Jude. They’ve even partnered with runDisney to offer race entries for Wine and Dine Half and Princess Half for fund-raising.

This particular breakfast was specifically for Heroes raising funds for the Memphis event in December. I’m always impressed by any event this organization puts on, and this breakfast was no different. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, making sure we all had what we needed. There were table decorations to set the stage, and even a swag table that we were invited to help ourselves to.

Table Decorations

Swag Table

More Swag

Breakfast was provided by McAlister’s Deli, and coffee was provided by Community Coffee. They even gave each of us a training journal, a magnet with the entire calendar of events throughout our training season, a note pad, and pen.

Yummy breakfast provided by McAlister’s

Once the program started, we found out they have some surprises in store for us in the coming months. I cannot wait to find out what that’s all about!

St. Jude Fund-Raising Kickoff Breakfast

We heard from Kevin Leathers, the national St. Jude Running Coach and owner of Can’t Stop Endurance coaching and consulting. I loved working with him last year, and I am excited for even more opportunities to work with him this year. Last year, he hosted monthly group runs with us and I attended every one of them. This year, I was excited to find out he is hosting WEEKLY group runs starting this Saturday. That means I get to work with him every week from now until the race if I want to. He will also be repeating the monthly training clinics he held last year as well. I will for sure be attending as many of those as I can. Additionally, they will be supporting us through training and fund-raising Facebook chat events. These are great since not all Heroes are from Memphis. Participants from all over the world can take advantage of these Facebook events.

We then met a young man named Ramon and his mother. Ramon was treated at St. Jude for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when he was 6. His mother told the emotional story of his diagnosis and their fear of not only the dreadful disease but also of how they were going to financially afford his treatment. They were shocked and ecstatic to learn that no patient is ever billed for anything. They were also thrilled that St. Jude didn’t look or feel like a hospital. Kids were laughing and having fun despite their diseases. They put Ramon and his needs first and took care of everyone’s emotional needs as well as Ramon’s physical needs. Ramon is 13 now and cancer-free! She truly feels that if it were not for the work of fund-raisers like the Heroes program, her son would not be alive and countless more kids would die of cancer than do. Her gratitude was genuine and hearing stories like theirs is always emotional.

The entire event reinforced for me why I am a St. Jude Hero. We truly are running for a purpose. We are making a difference in the lives of these kids and countless more to come. Ramon’s mother mentioned that she often wonders if Danny Thomas knew what he was creating 51 years ago. I’m not sure if anyone will ever know that answer to that, but we know now what he did create. He created what would become the world’s leading children’s research hospital, a place where kids and their families can come, financially worry-free, to be treated for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, where their child comes first, where there’s hope.

Follow me on Twitter @myglasssneaker.

Like my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MyGlassSneaker.

To donate to my personal fund-raising page or make a donation, visit www.heroes.stjude.org/Melanie_Adams.

There is a little time left to register for my virtual run to benefit St. Jude. To register or for details, click here.

Charities Memphis Races runDisney Running St. Jude

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Square Life Round World

I'm navigating through this round world while living a square life, and it fits exactly as it should.

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St. Jude Hospital Tour

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Elvis Presley 5k Race Recap and a PR

St. Jude Heroes Fund-Raising Kickoff Breakfast

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