Race for recovery 5k/10k

 A few weeks ago when Hurricane Sandy hit NYC and many parts of Jersey it really affected me. I felt for everyone who went through it and is still going through the clean up now as we sit cozy farther up on the East Coast in Canada. I think part of why it touched me so much is that it is so close to us and i cannot imagine the chaos that ensued after the storm hit. I could not imagine seeing that damage or experiencing that storm in person.

While i love running and running races including half and full marathons the fact that NYC wanted to still run the NYC marathon after such devestation to their city sickened me. I could not believe it. There were still so many without power or running water and they wanted to birng in generators and millions of bottles of water for the race? How does that even make sense? Where was the compassion? Well at the last minute they finally showed some! But a little too late in a sense. Many runners had already traveled there to run the race. I personally would have deferred to the next year but can understand why many runners chose not to. It made me happy to read about many donating their rooms to those in need and heading home and many headed to Staten Island, among one of many of the hardest hit by the super storm. The runners ran around the island delivering goods to the drop off centers. They still got their run in but helped out as well. Many other runners even ran their own marathon in Central park looping around 4 times to create the full marathon distance!

One of the bloggers i follow NYC Running Mama  lives on Staten Island (where the marathon starts every year) and as i runner herself appeared to struggle with the fact that they at first wanted to still hold the race (i follow her on twitter as well as her blog). She like many of us runners never blamed the runners for wanting to still run their race. The damage sparked something in her and she wanted to organize a virtual Race for Recovery where anyone in the world can participate! How cool is that? The race fee is $20 which is donated directly to the Charity that was formed after the storm, Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.  The charity is focusing it’s efforts on the NYC, Long Island, and NJ coastline which are amoung the areas most affected by the storm. You can donate the minimum $20 to register or more if you want, you can also fund raise too.

I have been contemplating for weeks whether or not i wanted to run this virtual race and finally decided yesterday that i wanted to help out:) So i registered and set up my donation page here. If you want to donate anything please feel free. It's such a great cause!

Keep in mind i am just running for a cause here. I won't actually be racing this race since when i run it Dec 8th i will be 26 weeks and just entered my 3rd trimester. Runners can run 5k, 10k or 15k for the virtual race. I am choosing to run 15km. It will probably be my last 15km before the baby gets here i imagine. Unless i continue to feel great like i have been. I have still been able to maintain 10-16km for my long runs. And 5-8km for my short runs during the week. I really listen to my body and if i don't feel like doing the distance i planned i do what my body feels like. I base it on how i feel before my run.

For more information on the virtual race if you want to sign up as well please visit here.

I also just got my Gabrialla maternity support belt a few weeks ago for running. So keep your eyes peeled for a review on that soon too:)

Have any of my fellow runners ran a virtual race before? If so what one? How was your experience? This will be my first and i will be running it with my running partner in crime, Steph.