Aunt Rita's AIDS Foundation 2010 5K

This post is going to change your life.

My alarm went off at 7:15am. Right away, I jumped up and threw on my running clothes and laced up my Nike Lunar Swifts. I grabbed a yogurt and raw granola and hit the door. I had no time to play games...those infected by HIV/AIDS in Phoenix needed my full support today.

I immediately jumped on I-10 headed downtown, as I turned onto 3rd Ave and Washington, I saw a sign stating that there was a special event. I immediately felt a rush, my fingers began to tingle, and of course, my heart began to race. The day was here! The day that I set aside to challenge myself physically...I had a lot to prove this day.

I parked and only took my car key and iPhone with me. I walked up and look what I saw...

SHOW TIME !! It was time for me to get it poppin !! This little logo that I saw online was starring me dead in my face!! I saw people walking around in their t-shirts, and I immediately got hyped up! The day was here!

Here I was in beautiful downtown Phoenix, with a 5K race in front of me. There was nothing that was going to stop me...

I saw tons of runners in the crowd, and as I walked up, I'd politely smile at those I could tell were on the Nike+ team. It's great to come together for a great cause. When you love running and when you love service, the feeling you get after everything is amazing.

I can't get over how many people were there! So many sponsors! Shout out to Walgreens for donating $100,000 to this foundation. The announcer told us to shop there everyday for the rest of the year. LOL. I plan on it. I noticed that the mood was positive and the energy was pretty high! There was music playing and people dancing...of course I was one of them.

I felt so good after seeing that there were other people around me with the same passion for running and servicing their community. I was with a group of women from my illustrious sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Many of them were not runners, in fact they were planning on walking the 5K. There were a couple that were planning on jogging/running. I informed them that I had a goal and was planning on beating a time of 37:30. There was one Soror of mine that told me that her goal was to beat 47:00. I told her that if she ran with me, I'd make sure that she beat that.

Hi, I'm Tiffany...and if you run with me, your life will change.

She politely took the challenge, and as the horn went off we smiled at each other and hit the pavement. There were tons of volunteers and they all were very supportive. I was in my goofy mode, so I made sure to give them all the thumbs up and tell them, "you guys are awesome!" ... of course they responded, "no! you're awesome!"

There was music at different street corners, and of course I just had to stop and dance with the volunteers! LOL. Hey, this was my first race and I had to make it fun! At one point when I was running and becoming weary, I saw a volunteer that I knew! A fellow member of another sorority, Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority, Inc. I ran up to her, kissed her on her cheek and kept running. She was cheering me on and clapping. This felt great!

Now, I had to finish with a bang, even if I didn't beat my goal, I had to come in under 40 minutes. I mean, come on, I owed it to myself. So I winked at my Soror, and told her I was going to take the lead. She encouraged me to keep going.

Wait, let me back up...All while we were running, my Soror was quoting scriptures and telling herself, "I can do this, I can do all things." I kept pushing her. I told her not to stop running, to keep going. Never give up...DON'T STOP. She replied, "I have on sunglasses, but if only you could see the look I am giving you!" LOL. I told her that I was going to change her life!

Ok, so I took the lead and finished in 38:36 at a pace of 12:23. Hey, I'm totally cool with this, besides, I was dancing and joking around a quarter of the time. Petting dogs, dancing, joking, and  high fiving. That's what 5K races are all about when you're just starting your journey as a runner!

I hit the corner of 3rd Ave and Washington, and on the big stage there was live music with a guy telling me (or all runners) to push and finish strong. He was thanking us for contributing to such a great cause. People were clapping...the energy was high! Of course I pushed through and finished.

I grabbed a water, caught my breath and looked for my sorority sister that had to beat her goal of 47:00. She hit that corner and finished in 42 and some change. I clapped and jumped up and down! "I told you that you could do it!" She immediately started crying. She sat down and drank water with her daughter on her lap, she said to me, "Tiffany, all while I was running, all I could imagine was myself fighting the bad things in my life, the things I hated or was unhappy with...this race was about me doing something that I thought I couldn't do, and as  I hit that corner, all I could hear was my daughter telling me that I could do it...and just like that, I did it."

Running is an emotional activity...and just like that, your life can be changed at an event like this. Thank you all for sharing this awesome day with me.

xoxo,

Tiffany