The Girlfriends' Half Marathon results are in! It really was a great event for so many reasons. The weather was perfect… no rain! Plus, there is something to looking out at a sea of 1500 women running/walking that just makes me, and no doubt so many others, smile. All along the course, volunteers (or the children of some of the women in the race) would clap or even offer a high-five along the way. If that wasn’t enough to lift your spirits, the breathtaking views of Vancouver sure did. On top of all that, running the girlfriends half was a way to help raise over $35,000 for Susan G. Komen. Way to go Sherri of NW Personal Training, you do put on one amazing event!

(My girlfriends: Carrie Haring-Armstrong, Diana Shaw, Jen Crego, me, Kris Petersen, Kate Carter, Kim Lester, Amanda Pou)
Results (full results here)
1. Megha Doshi, 27, 1:26:44
2. Angela Lindbo, 39, 1:30:06
3. Kim Lester, 35, 1:32:13

(Christina Nelson (aka: my awesome coach), me, and Diana Shaw (my girlfriend who works out with me in the House of Pain))

It was a blast to hang out with all my girlfriends. Each one of these women is amazing and I enjoyed cheering for them and having them cheer me on during the race. My race didn’t go as I had planned, but that didn’t matter. I was surrounded by my girlfriends.

(My friends waiting in the port-o-potty line. 1500 women it was a looonnnggg line!)

My husband was wonderful enough to meet me at the finish line with all four of our kids. (Thank you, honey!) I, unfortunately, had an asthma attack at mile eight and did not retrieve my inhaler until mile 9 1/2. By that time the inhaler was mostly ineffective, so at the finish line I had to head straight to the ambulance to obtain more medication in the form of a nebulizer. But once I could breathe again… I was off to find my sweet family for some hugs and kisses.

(Here I am so happy to have my inhaler. Breathing is a good thing.)

Once we were together we headed down to cheer my mom as she power-walked the race. The kids made “Go, Grandma, Go!” signs and were very excited to show them. When we arrived at the spot where I knew we would meet her, we cheered wildly for all the beautiful women still running and walking. My daughter Avery was so happy to see all those women wearing pink- her favorite color! Alexis, my other daughter, would just about jump out of the stroller when a gal would go by wearing her favorite color- purple. She would scream, “Yay, PURPLE! I love Purple! Run fast, purple lady!”

My mom showed up at the area faster than I expected, and we cheered so loudly we startled the volunteer with screams of, “Yay, grandma!”. After a quick hug and kiss break my mom was off again, like lightning. I quickly packed up all the kids and headed up to meet her at the finish, where she placed first in her age group! That’s right. My 71 year old mom rocked that half. I had plenty of funny looks when my mom hopped up to get her trophy because I was yelling “Woo, hoo, That’s my mom! Oh, yeah. Check out my cool mom! She just got first place! Way to go mom!” I was so proud, and I wanted everyone to know.

(My mom, 71 and beautiful!)
After I calmed down, we settled in to eating and hanging out with our girlfriends. What a great way to finish a race. The food was fantastic, as I expected. The finisher's gift was a cute necklace and a hot pink water bottle. The shirt is so cute (check out my mom rocking the new girlfriends shirt)! I recommend signing up early next year because it’s going to sell out, fast! And make sure you finish ahead of me, otherwise there will not be anything to eat when you arrive at the finish line. Laugh and run on, my friends!

(My mom and I enjoying the food. What wasn’t consumed was sent to local food banks after the race.)