Fortis Et Fidelis (Brave and Faithful)

Fortis Et Fidelis. Those are the words over the arch in Ritter Park, Huntington, WV. On March 29th, I ran the Lucky Charms Glitter Run and we made our halfway turn around the archway. The saying translates in English to: Brave and Faithful. I like that. I like that a lot. At the end of the race, the winners were presented with their medals and a box of cereal. That is unique. Every race has their thing. This one was sugar coated cereal and green glitter…

The race was a great time. The clouds had threatened rain all morning and at the end, eating a banana on the curb, I felt the first few raindrops of the impending storm. I ran the race with Mander. Well, let’s say I started this race with Mander. She quickly left me in the dust. I enjoyed that aspect of the race tremendously (and it is the beginning of our training for the Marshall Half in November). At the finish line they threw dixie cups full of green glitter at us (from both sides so it couldn’t be avoided). Fortunately I had a long sleeve shirt on and diverted the majority of the sparkly happiness.

Proceeds from the race went to support Hoops Family Children’s Hospital at Cabell Huntington Hospital. In the “about” section of their website it notes: “The Hoops Family Children’s Hospital (HFCH) is a 72-bed children’s hospital within a hospital located on the Fifth Floor of Cabell Huntington Hospital. HFCH is a member of the Children’s Hospital Association and includes a 36-bed Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a 26-bed General Pediatrics Unit and a 10-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The facility is currently undergoing a $12 million renovation project to reconstruct the units for general pediatrics and pediatric intensive care.” I like when my entrance fee goes to something worthwhile.

It was a nice flat run and (as with the NYC Half), the volunteers were amazing. They are like your own personal cheering squad as you run along. Complete strangers telling you “Great Job!” or “You are amazing, you got this!” Just think if the whole world were like a race, complete with encouragement from random strangers who believe, just from the looks of you, that you are capable of a good finish. What a world THAT would be…

I have planned a lot of the 5k races in the Huntington area. I am finding that I will get accustomed to this route as the majority of the races in Huntington follow the same route.

My 5k run was a PR that day. I like PRs.

Some pictures and below those are a few stats….

The perks of running races – all the cool shirts you collect.