Last Saturday for the first time in my life, I ran an entire 5K event . Five weeks prior I could barely sustain a run for a full minute. In between, I trained, grew hopeful, grew discouraged, and grew hopeful again.

A week before the event was Mother’s Day. Investigating the course together as a family seemed like a great way to celebrate. With my husband and son on bicycles, my daughter and I were on our feet. I wasn’t yet ready to run the entire course, so we warmed up walking the beginning of the course, then broke into a run for the rest of it: approximately 2.7 miles.

That Wednesday, I decided I was ready to run the entire course. And I did, completing it in 47 minutes.

On Saturday, during the Wood River Girls on the Run Community 5K, I ran the course in 40 minutes. My daughter completed the run in 36 minutes and my son completed it in a mere 25 minutes! Unfortunately, Todd had hurt his knee and decided to walk the course. There were days I wasn’t very motivated to get out run, but my desire to run this entire event caused me to get outside and put one foot in front of the other.

Girls on the Run doesn’t just motivate elementary school aged girls to pursue and attain their dreams. It also motivates grown women to follow their dreams and turn them into attained goals. And it can cause them to drag their entire family along.

Today I learned of a 5K Memorial Run at Redfish Lake. I’ve signed up. Time to see if I can complete the same distance at higher altitude!