Live wElle Recap

Last Saturday, a few of us from Elevated CrossFit ran the Live wElle 5k.

Elevated CrossFit donated some prizes for the raffle, so we had to go represent! ;)

the Live wElle foundation is a wonderful organization!

"Elle’s Foundation, (Live wElle) was established in memory of Elle Hullinger, daughter of Scott and Kirsten Hullinger of Springville, Utah. Elle was born on June 5, 2005. She was born on her parent’s wedding anniversary, and she was the absolute perfect anniversary gift! For the next 15 months, her two brothers and two sisters, as well as her parents, enjoyed and loved her to the utmost. She died in a tragic accident on August 30, 2006. As with the rest of her short life, Elle was surrounded and loved by her family in her last moments on earth. Within moments of Elle’s death, two rainbows appeared above her home. To Elle’s family, these rainbows signified hope for a better day."

Info from the Live wElle website

The Live wElle Foundation awards scholarships to local high school graduates.

A few of the recipients were there, a lot of them ran the race and helped pace the kids races. 

It was pretty cool. 

Dillon, Tyson, Sarah, Me, & Tanner

I made Sarah wear one of my TeamSparkle skirts so we'd match!

We got lots of compliments!

Dillon took second place in his age group!

his time was 24:48!!

Pretty impressive for an 11 year old! :)

After the race was done they did a balloon release.

Scott Hullinger (Elle's Dad) made a quick speech after the race and explained a very touching story about the day of Elle's death. Neighbors, family, and friends had been placing flowers, stuffed animals, and balloons on the Hullinger's front lawn the day of her death. The Hullinger family decided as the sun was going down to release all the balloons that had been placed on their yard. 

If you've ever been to a Live wElle race, you know there are TONS of balloons EVERYWHERE.

They have a HUGE balloon arch for the finish line of the kids races.

And after Scott's speech, he invited everyone to come and get a balloon.

They started playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and everyone released their balloons.

It was REALLY a beautiful site. 

I got a little teary eyed. 

As far as the race goes...

I did pretty well. I hadn't run since Ogden Marathon and I had no idea what to expect.

We started out at the very beginning of the pack, because Tyson "wanted to win".

I took off and got caught up in the race atmosphere!

I came up beside my friend, Theresa, and she asked me "when do you want to finish?"

I just shrugged and said I wanted to finish.

She told me to check my pace, because we were hauling ass (well she didn't say THAT...)

I looked down and I was running at a 7:04 pace!

HOLY SHIZ.

So I decided to slow down and just hoped I wouldn't empty the tank before the finish line.

My splits were 8:05, 8:55, 8:42, 1:08 (.13 miles - 8:27 pace).

though my garmin clocked my fastest pace in the first mile at 5:46...

So, yes, I struggled. I pushed that last mile... hard!

When we turned that last corner, 2 younger kids passed me, and I took off with some untapped energy and passed them. ;)

I finished in 26:49!

and was 4th in my age group.

Not good enough for a podium finish... but I'm still excited about being #4! ;)