With all of the remembrance going on this past weekend in honor of the ten year anniversary of 9/11, we felt the desire to contribute in some way. We wanted to show our admiration and respect to all the lives lost on that sad day. One of our Team Leads, Stacy Adams, found the “Warriors at Heart” 5K run/walk taking place at McAllister Park. All of the proceeds from the race were going to the Wounded Warrior Project, which is a charity I am extremely passionate about. I was ‘in’ the second it was mentioned and by the time we sent out emails to our teams, we got 16 runners/walkers signed up and ready to race!
This past Saturday a group of Running Rackers (our team name) woke up at the crack of dawn in order to show their pride and support for the Wounded Warrior Project. It was a nice breezy morning in comparison to the heat wave we in San Antonio have become accustomed to. I grabbed a light jacket and a nice hot cup of coffee to keep me warm while my team started to set up our tent at 7am.
It was amazing to see everyone’s smiling faces and excitement as we stretched and got prepared for the run. We had a few Rackers that were participating in their first EVER 5K! We tightened our shoelaces, stretched our muscles and walked towards the starting mark.
The Running Racker team was easy to spot since we were all sporting our camouflage headbands with the word RAX placed right in the center.
Our friends and family core value really showed throughout the race as Rackers ran side by side cheering their teammates on and our entire team stayed until the very last Racker had crossed the finish line.
It was a great feeling to hear your teammates cheer you on and scream your name as you were crossing the finish line. There was a definite sense of teamwork! Not only was I proud to be an American, but I was proud to be a Racker that day. The amount of pride and happiness I felt was inexplicable.
I want to thank everyone who ran/walked/jogged that day. You made my day and I can’t wait to do it again!!
Category: Core Values, Involvement Tags: 9/11, Core Values, Rack Gives Back, Warriors at Heart, Wounded Warrior Project
For those of you who really enjoy a challenge and are up to marathon-level, you should check out the Bataan Memorial Death March! This marathon honors the victims and survivors of the Bataan Death March during WWII. There is a huge military presence at the event, including a class for Wounded Warriors who enter. I can’t run it, but 2012 will be my third year walking it.