What to do when you are Billy and Patricia Mills and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have been cancelled? If you are Billy and Pat Mills you were eagerly anticipating watching the Games especially the 10000 Meters competition on August 1st remembering that iconic moment on October 14, 1964 when Billy won Gold. Billy won so much more than a Gold Medal that day and I encourage you to read this piece about Billy Mills by following this link. To quote Billy, he healed a broken soul that day.
Billy and Pat, along with Running Strong for American Indian Youth, the "giveaway" program that Billy and Pat created after his epic win, created the Virtual Run With Billy 10K/5K that began on August 1st and continues to August 9th, the date of the closing Olympic ceremonies. They used the beautiful painting that Pat created for Billy's 80th birthday two years ago for the bib design, used Billy's number 722 for the numbers and had Billy's autograph on every bib. The cost for the virtual race was Billy's winning time of $28.24.
We were so excited to receive our bibs in the mail:
While we had done another virtual race, there was excitement and eager anticipation to be a part of this Virtual 5K. Supporting Billy's dream of "empowering the visions of the elders and inspiring the dreams of the youth" fills my heart and soul with emotion. Running Strong works to ensure that basic needs are met on Native American reservations especially during the pandemic while inspiring and empowering the youth to create programs for sustainability, health and well being.
We set the alarm for 6:30 am knowing it was going to be a hot day. After meditation we got dressed and donned our Running Strong socks made by Fox River who donate a portion of the proceeds to Running Strong:
After breakfast, we loaded the car with frozen water bottles and bananas for after the race and headed to the Reservoir where we would do our 5K.
We parked the car in the shade and after pausing for a moment of gratitude for the gift of running in our lives we were off.
It was a glorious morning along the Reservoir's path and we were inspired by retelling Billy's story. We shared how Billy's journey inspired us on the road to the 2009 Boston Marathon:
The island's purple flowers were in full bloom and despite racing we made sure to take time to capture the beauty:
We took a selfie at the halfway mark along with a water break proudly running with Billy:
I am always in awe of the grace, dignity and divinity embodied by swans and Tom paused to capture these two beauties:
I have been working on my 5K pace and Ruth Anne and Tom helped me to push my pace. When we crossed the finish line, I had run my fastest time since June. I ran negative splits and felt that wonderful sense of accomplishment as sweat poured and I felt a little nauseous from the effort in the heat.
What a thrill to have the post of our run with photos shared by Billy and Pat on Facebook and to hear their message of gratitude in a Facebook video.
What a delight to see others' photos from #runwithbilly and experience that thrill of a race and running community brought together by the love of the sport and running for a great cause with the legend Billy Mills.
There's still time to register and run. The Virtual race 'runs' through August 9th when the 2020 Olympics would have had their closing ceremony. Register by following this link
Visit my website to learn more about my journey from being told I should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond.
My books are available on Amazon
From my heart to yours
In health and wellness
Mary
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