Pages

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Day of Service

So we are in Joplin, MO this weekend - our hometown.  I have some exciting things to post about, but unfortunately forgot to bring home my camera....so no pictures. :( 

Anyway, we came down Friday evening, once Reid was home from work.  We ate a delicious dinner and headed to bed early, because Saturday would be a long, busy day.

You see - Today was the Boomtown Run Day of Service.  Let me explain... Every year Joplin hosts a Boomtown Days Festival downtown.  My dad is in charge of the Boomtown Run (5K and Half Marathon) that takes place on this weekend each summer.  Because of my recent desire to start running, Reid and I registered to run in the 5K a few months ago.  When the tornado happened on May 22, my dad (and the committee) had a decision to make.  Continue or cancel the run?  Well, immediately he started getting emails from registered runners all over the country saying they were coming to Joplin either way - and that they would love to help. Thus began the Day of Service.  The planning committee for the run decided to still have all the runners meet at the same place, same time and band together to help the city (a marathon in itself) instead.  Also, all the registration money for the race would go to United Way to use for tornado relief.

They immediately sent out an email to all the runners with this information.  Runners World magazine got a hold of this idea and quickly published an article about it.  Within 24 hours, there were several people registering online for the race - people from all over the country - not because they were going to come run (or even serve), but because they wanted to contribute financially to the cause.  In addition, my dad continued to get MORE emails...  An email reporting that this morning, a group of runners in Lakeland, Florida was holding a Boomtown Run in memory of us this morning.  Next weekend, a city in Illinois is also hosting a Boomtown  Race for us - and all the proceeds are going towards Joplin tornado relief.  And the next weekend - the same thing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It has been so cool to see runners all over the country unify to support this cause.

Soooo....this morning, Reid and I drove to downtown Joplin for a quick breakfast and went to the "starting point" of the race.  There was a brief memorial service held.  Then 320 runners (only half of what actually registered) loaded buses and were taken to various neighborhoods around Joplin.  We then spent the next 4 hours cleaning up houses and debris.  Let me tell you - It was hard work!!!  However, with all of us working together, we really could see the small dent we had made in the progress.  At 12:30pm, we re-loaded our buses and were taken back to downtown Joplin.  As we exited the bus, there was the HUGE finish line...The race committee was standing behind it, cheering us on after our "marathon" of clean-up.  As we crossed the finish line, they gave us each a medal.  It was so wonderful!  We then had lunch and celebrated together with music and a speaker. 

I was nervous to do this because I didn't know how hard the physical labor would be.  It was tough - but so rewarding.  Rewarding in ways my words cannot describe.  I was so blessed to be a part of this day - amidst many other runners who felt the same way. 

Click the logo below to see the news report of this event.

PS - The race director, Audie Dennis, who is interviewed - is my dad!! :)  So proud!

No comments:

Post a Comment