Today I ran my first 5k race in over 15 years.  It was amazing.  My goal for the race?  Run and don’t stop.  I owe a huge debt of gratitude for my running buddy who could have started way ahead of me and who would have finished before I made it to the starting line.  She said, “Are you kidding, and miss you crossing the finish line.  No way, I’m running with you.”  I was choked up for most of the run and nearly burst into tears when we crossed the finish together.  Tearful not because I had finished the race, but of her expression of friendship as she ran by my side.

The slogan for this race was “Will Run for Chocolate.”  Here is a smidgen of the 37 thousand plus people waiting for their hot chocolate finisher’s mug.  Yep, I put all those good, healthy raw vegan thoughts aside and I dipped my apple slices, banana, pretzels and marshmallow into the best chocolate fondue I’ve ever had.  (Tomorrow is another day )

It was an even greater pleasure to walk home along my favorite route.  After taking in the intense energy of this huge event, it was grounding to exhale deeply while gazing at calm waters.

Later today I connected with my sister from Staten Island.  She and her family were incredibly fortunate to have been safe and sound during and after Hurricane Sandy when so much of Staten Island had been devastated.  When we spoke, she’d just returned from spending a day with a friend helping her clean out her flooded home.  While there, a group of runners from Austria, marathon runners with no marathon to race, ran by with donated bags of food and supplies.  Seeing the horrible damage, they spent the remainder of the day helping this woman clean out her mostly destroyed home.  Because the NYC Marathon was cancelled, more than a thousand runners met at what would have been the start line in Staten Island, grabbed what they could carry, and ran all over the island to deliver supplies and help to those in need.  Others, met in Central Park and circled the park, running to raise money for hurricane victims.  Amazing.  More than amazing.

My SIL, Mara, posted some links of very direct and local ways to help in her area in Brooklyn.  Check it out here.

New York, you will always be in my heart and soul.