30th Anniversary Navy Bay Bridge Run

Start Line (Showing our support with our Navy shirts)

I guess you can say race medals are the equivalent to ‘participation trophies’.  You didn’t win the race.  You didn’t come in first so when you cross the finish line, you are basically getting a participation trophy.  I still value it though because most races are a challenge, and each medal I receive has a unique experience and memory associated with it.   People can say what they want about it, but for me, my race medals are something I collect (like some collect stamps, coins, dolls, baseball cards), but it also something I take pride in.  Frankly, I won’t do a race without a medal.

This year was the Navy Bridge’s 30^th Annual Race, and it is a race that I had been wanting to do, but never did. Why? No medal. However, because it was the 30^th anniversary, they gave out medals, and I was very eager to sign up.  What makes this race unique was it offered an opportunity to run across the famous Coronado Bridge.  More importantly, it also benefited our service men.

It was a short four-mile run so I signed myself and all the kids as well as my nephew Jayson.  We drove down to San Diego at 5 a.m. Sunday morning.  Dylan was the one who actually drove us to/from San Diego.  He is a very good driver even though he drives like a grandma.  At 5 a.m., there was no traffic and Dylan was barely doing 60 mph. I’m not complaining.  I’d rather him be cautious.

I have been running with Mia for two years, and this was the first time this happened! I lost her shortly before we reached mile 1.  I made the mistake of allowing her to run with her IPod so she didn’t hear me tell her that we were going to stop at the upcoming water station.  She kept running, and I turned around to give her water, and I could not find her.  It was horrific.  I began to frantically look for her.  I stood up on a curb with my eyes searching through the crowds of thousands of runners.  I could not find her.  I immediately called Dylan, hoping and hoping he would answer his phone.  Dylan, Brandon, and Jayson ran ahead of us, and I estimated they must have been at least a half mile ahead of us.  Fortunately, Dylan answered the phone. I told him to stop running and stand with Brandon and Jayson on opposite sides of the bridge and watch for Mia. 

I was so scared, but I hoped Mia would continue to run towards the finish line.  About 5 – 7 minutes passed, and I finally received the call that they had found her.  What a relief!

When I had caught up with them at the finish line, I asked Mia if she was scared, and she didn’t respond, but gave me an acknowledging look.  I will never let her run with music again, and I also spoke to her about what I wanted her to do should this ever happened again (which it will not). 

The boys’ time was not their best as they spent a great deal of time looking for their sister.  Mia placed in the top 17 percent for her age group of 12 and under.  She averaged 11:46 min mile. 

One other side note----they posted our photo on their Facebook page.  I guess they liked our matching Navy shirts.