Monday, September 22, 2014

Birthday Bash for Moms Run This Town

The Fairfax/Chantilly chapter of Moms Run This Town is one year old and we celebrated with a birthday bash at Potomac River Running in Fairfax Corner (PRR). Huge thanks go out to Lianne and Jackie who put a lot of work into making this a fun event! And to PRR who hosted us, donated gift cards for the swag bags, and donated a Nathan Intensity Hydration Vest for the raffle.

We met up at the store in the evening and watched Jeff heading out with the last group of ElliptiGO test riders. One of these days I will go for a test ride...

Jeff and a group of test riders
photo courtesy of PRR Fairfax

A group run was first on the list of party activities. We decided to only go 2 miles since many folks were sore from the Dulles Day race the day before or weekend long runs. I ran for a bit with Amy and Nichole - Amy is training for the Woodrow Wilson Half and Nichole has Woodrow Wilson Half, Army Ten Miler, and Marine Corps Marathon on her schedule. Then I settled into comfortable run/walk intervals with Andrea. Andrea reminds me of myself a couple of years ago - working on increasing running time vs. walking time and trying to find enough time in a busy schedule for regular runs. Andrea ran the Dulles Day 5k and is thinking about longer distances like a 10k. You can do it, Andrea!

pre-run group picture
photo courtesy of Jackie

After the run Lianne gave us raffle tickets and we hit the buffet. There were veggies, fruit, cookies, and crock pot meatballs. And these were no ordinary crock pot meatballs. Jackie tried this interesting recipe that was highly recommended to her - the sauce is a mix of BBQ sauce and grape jelly! They were delicious!

snacking, socializing, and shopping - what could be better?
photo courtesy of PRR Fairfax

There were three raffle prizes - a bottle holder that turns a 16-oz plastic water bottle into a handheld bottle for running (I wish I took a picture of this - it looks so simple and is quite ingenious), a choice of MRTT decal, and the Nathan hydration vest.

The raffle winner got to pick a decal!
photo courtesy of Jackie

And this is how cool the decals look on shirts!

I had all of my fingers and toes crossed...
and I won the Nathan hydration vest!
Karen & I have been discussing them for
a few weeks and I can't wait to test it out.
photo courtesy of Jackie

Lianne and Jackie also gave everyone some incredible swag bags. The bag itself was swag enough with its MRTT logo and fun green color, but they spoiled us with goodies - MRTT cup and towel, PRR gift card, Hylands leg cramps tablets, Emergen-C sample, and a Zone bar! Thank you so much!!

It felt like my birthday, not the Chapter's birthday!

How clever is this? Love it!
photo courtesy of Lianne

I was excited to finally meet Rebecca who is married to Coach Adam, my track and distance training program coach. I've heard so many good things about her and it was great to talk with her and share stories.

mandatory group photo in front of the "shoe wall"
photo courtesy of PRR Fairfax

I walked out to my car and discovered I had been initiated into an MRTT tradition - the flipping of my car magnet by an anonymous fellow MRTT mom. It's a bit silly, but I was happy that someone had finally flipped my magnet. I've been waiting for weeks! Thank you anonymous flipper, for flipping my magnet and for doing it when a chapter leader was conveniently right there to flip it back.



2 comments:

  1. Wow - this was cool! Congrats on your new hydration vest, too!! Loved the flipped car magnet! See you Sunday at the races!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. looking forward to seeing you Sunday! Since Rick is running 10 miles and I am running 10k, I actually have a chance to "beat him" and finish first :)

      Delete