Team S.A. Lewis to Ethopia

For about 8 weeks now Lauren, Erin and I have been training together to walk our first 1/2 marathon. Some wonderful friends of ours from church, Neil and Kathryn, are adopting a little boy from Ethiopia and there was no question that we wanted to help them in any way and be a part of their journey. So we walked about 3 days a week, increasing the distance each time. After the first training (I think we walked 3 miles) I thought there was no way I was gonna be able to do this! But as the weeks went on it got easier.
So the morning finally came, and I have to admit, I was a little nervous. Josh and I didn't take our phones so we were just going to rely on luck in finding our running/walking partners. Turned out there were alot more people there than we thought, so it was difficult finding our friends. After a prayer, the gun sounded and I had not found Lauren or Erin. Josh went ahead and I waited for about a minute and then started.

I was a bit upset, at first, that I was walking alone. I thought I would catch up to them, but when I saw Troy and Chris pass me I knew they had to be behind me. So I stopped and waited a few minutes. It was dark out when we started so it was a little hard to see. When it looked like most of the people had gone by, and I still hadn't seen them, I went ahead. I knew that we would find each other eventually. I walked about 6 miles alone when I saw Chris and Troy coming back around. Next, I saw Josh, and then I heard my name. I looked behind and, finally, it was Lauren and Erin! Turns out they waited for me at the starting line for 11 min! I felt terrible! We were all so happy to find each other. So we walked til mile 9 going at about a 15 min pace. Mile 9 was a HUGE hill so we slowed down some after that. I thought I was not going to make it at about mile 11, and good thing I had the girls pushing me, because I think I would have stopped. We finally rounded the last corner and when we saw our cars had been pulled up by the guys, we kicked it into high gear. We finished in 3 hr and 30 min (well, minus 11 min for Lauren and Erin)!

This was taken at the halfway mark, right after we all caught up to each other.

Neil and Kathryn

The guys were all waiting at the finish line for us and Josh had the camera out. Man, he knows me! I just got finished telling the girls that I hoped Josh would take our picture! After we fueled up on some fruit and water, we all went to the Gristmill for a nice lunch. What an experience! I can't wait to do another one! We love you Neil and Kathryn, and can't wait to meet your baby boy!