Breakthrough for Autism race recap

Last year after the half I took some time off of running- and it ended up taking me back in my training.  This year, I planned to do a race/run every weekend until the end of school to keep me going forward.  However, that plan got a little messed up when I ended up at an ENT for chronic congestion and discovered that my sinuses were pretty "full" which meant I needed sinus surgery.  When I asked about a timetable his response was something along the lines of- we live in East TN and it's spring- so sooner rather than later.  When looking at the calendar I went with this past Monday because we would have Good Friday and the Monday after Easter off work so it limited the days off and give me an extra day of rest.

That meant I actually only had 2 weekends after the half to get any runs/races in and this one was first up.  It was a smaller race that is building in popularity and had a little over 350 participants. I have several friends who have children with Autism (or know kiddos/adults with Autism) and over on FB I asked for their names.  When they shared the names I added them to my bib and ran for each of them.  I went out with no expectations- just the thought that I was going to enjoy the run (which I did) but even more so I got a glimpse.  A glimpse into a world with its struggles and tears yet rewards at the same time.  This race is unique in that it offers running buddies where you can sign up to run WITH someone as a buddy.  I ended up being around a lady and her older son and my heart was so full watching them.  He would run ahead and then all of a sudden just stop (often right in front of me) and just start walking- she was so apologetic and said they hadn't learned how to pace yet- I just chuckled and told her that was okay- I was still learning about it also :)  The sheer joy that these young men and women had to be able to participate was so overwhelming and I will admit that I caught myself tearing up a time or two.

Will I participate in this race again?  YES!  I truly believe in the cause it supports and it was a great course!

Final results- #6 out of 14 in 2014
Run For Autisim
Chip time was 37:27.4
236/369 (not great but it's all good) :)