2017 Blue Bell Fun Run

I have wanted to run in the Blue Bell Fun Run 10K for a few years now.  (#bucketlist) Every year I am either busy, forgot about it, or just miss the race.  This year though I was determined not to miss it so I signed up back in October of 2016, right when it opened for registration.

However, I almost completely missed it.  I wasn’t planning on doing anything this weekend but got an email about the race and packet pickup on Friday. I looked at the date…oh wait, the race is tomorrow!  Ooops!  I almost forgot.  Plans changed from doing nothing to running a 10K that I hadn’t trained for.  Oh well!  You never regret a workout!

I woke up at 4:15 am on Saturday morning to make it to Brenham in time. I wasn’t sure what the traffic situation on 290 would be (construction for dayzzzz) or the parking at the race.  As luck would have it, I got there so early I had a super close parking spot.  Score!  #RockStarParking

The race went well considering that I hadn’t trained. I didn’t break any records and I probably did really bad compared to my other races, but I don’t care.  The course was so spectacular that I kept saying thank you prayers to God for making it such a pretty day.  Afterwards my route home took me part of the way down my favorite parts of the race and I was able to take some pictures.

After the race I got some chocolate ice cream (#notplantbased #shameonme #itwasdelicious) and my 10K finishers medal and hit the road. 

Check out the race!  It has free, unlimited ice cream for participants and spectators during/after the race.  All proceeds go to Brenham High School’s athletic department.  PLUS, you get an awesome finishers metal and a t-shirt-we all know how I feel about finishers medals!

LaPorte By The Bay Half Marathon Take Three

I just realized I never wrote about my ½ marathon!  I completed my eighth half marathon on November 20^th in LaPorte, TX as part of the Texas Bridge Series running events.  Originally I was going to run all three races with my Aunt Laura, but she ended up dropping out of the last race so she could watch my cousin (her son) in a swim meet.   I was thiiiiiiis close to saying screw it and not participating but I kept chanting in my head “you never regret a workout” and “you paid $65 for this thing, get your money worth” and “I really want my two extra medals I get when I finish this race”. 

I started the race figuring I could at least walk the entire way, even if I couldn’t run that far.  It might be painful, but I knew I could finish it.  The course looped around really close to my car and I sooooooo wanted to turn that direction and head to my car quietly, but I decided to keep going.  I can do this thing!

I made friends along the course as I usually do.  Why suffer in silence for 13.1 miles when I can talk to keep myself busy?  I’m a talker, y'all!  I can’t go without talking for that long (even though a bucket list item is to go to a week-long silent retreat!).  The miles past relatively quickly and before I knew it I was on my way back over the bridge. 

My feet felt great with my new shoes and I made sure to stretch while eating my race recovery food.

The funny part is that you get a finisher’s mug that said “Beef Loving Texan” but I am plant based and don't eat meat at all anymore.  I could still use the cup but I have so many that I just gave it away to my Aunt since she couldn’t be there. 

Half Marathon #8 in the books!

2/3rds Done-Galveston Toughest 10K Recap

Saturday was the Toughest 10K Galveston race that is the 2nd race of the Texas Bridge Series races.  It was not as bad as the first race, but it was not a walk in the park.  When will I learn that I actually need to train for races? Oh right, I thought these races would encourage me to train...nope!

I stayed at my Uncle's house in Pearland the night before the race so that my aunt Laura and I could get up early and head out to get the best parking spot.   We all stayed up way to late into the night talking and I hardly got any sleep.  I need my sleep or I am a crab (did you see what I did there...crab. Galveston...not funny?)


Anyway we got to the race and were able to park with ease.  The race itself was uneventful except I wasn't feeling it.  I really wanted the 4th medal though so I pushed on.  The things I will do for race medals.  I thought I liked the Kemah race better, but I really liked the Galveston one better.  I remember not really liking this race, but I liked it a whole lot more than Kemah this time around.  I think it was Kemah was just too hot in September.

I did 2 minutes faster (whoo hoo) than I did in Kemah, which is weird because I felt like I walked a lot more this time.  Who knows!

A few friends from church were running the race too and we took a picture.  . We were supposed to all wear our medals to church today, but my eye is a bit infected...I'm hoping it isn't pink eye.

After the race our plan was to go to the Farmer's Market, get lunch and then have mimosas on the beach but we got to the Farmer's Market area and apparently it is on Sunday and not Saturday. I"m not sure how we both missed that on the website, but we did.  We went to the Galveston Greek Festival instead!

The tickets were only $3 and then you paid for whatever food/dessert/drink/souvenir you wanted. Laura got the plate dinner and I got some sides mixed together.  I thought the grape leaf things I got were just rice filled but apparently they had some sort of meat, I think lamb.  I didn't want to waste it, so I ate it.  I know, it's not plant based but it was one time and I hate wasting food.

We watched some dancers do a little number and listened to a band for a bit before heading home.  We had mimosas when we got back to Roger's and I took a nap on the couch before heading home.

Fun day, fun weekend!  How was yours?

Have A Great Weekend!

I just wanted to pop in and tell everyone to have a great weekend!  I am not planning on doing much this weekend except veg out and watch the rest of the Walking Dead.  I am on Season 5 about halfway through.  I might go see a movie, either The Girl on the Train or Ms. Peregine’s Home for Peculiar Children.  I started reading the Peculiar Children book but haven’t finished it.   I’m leaning more towards The Girl on the Train movie. 

A few cute pictures of my niece!  We went shopping at Marshall’s the other day and my mom found these adorable pajamas.  They glow in the dark and have candy where the skeleton’s belly is. Kali loves going on walks in the neighborhood so I took her around while she was wearing her pajamas.   She wanted to “scare all the neighbors”.  When a car or person would come by, she would “roar” at them.  They were scared, clearly.

We also went to Trader Joe’s!  My mom had never been so we went and Kali found a little kids cart.  She was very proud of herself.  Now that is the only store my parents can go when Kali is with them because she LOVES to push the cart. 

Have a great weekend!  My 2^nd 10K is coming up next weekend.  Has anyone signed up for any races?

Toughest 10K Kemah Round 3

On Sunday we completed the 1st of 3 races as part of the Texas Bridge Series, Toughest 10 Kemah.  The two remaining are One Tough 10K-Galveston (October) and the LaPorte by the Bay Half Marathon (November).

I had planned on getting there early to have a stress free morning, but as usual, "Planned" flew out the usual.  Plan:  Wake up at 4:30 and leave by 5 AM.  Reality:  Work up at 4:45 and played on Instagram and FB til 5:15 and then ran around like a crazy person to leave at 5:45.

I had stayed at my parents house in Spring the night before because I got to hang with Kali and Cole for a little while and I was too tired to drive anywhere.  Those kids wear you out!  So I had to drive from Spring allllllll the way to Kemah and I was freaking out a bit over getting there in time.

I stopped at Starbucks for a drink and oatmeal, because, Starbucks, and that put me even later behind schedule.  There wasn't any traffic until I hit the Kemah Bridge but it moved quickly and I made it to the starting line with about 15 minutes to spare.

On the way I found this neat little wooden maze called The Lighthouse Maze.  Totally added it to my bucket list.

I met my aunt, Laura, at the starting line and we started the race together.  I kept running when she started walking but I thought she kept running.  I knew I was going to do a walk/run combo the entire race but it was so hot I did a lot more walking.  Sometimes I felt my heart working overtime and I didn't want to push myself.

But, let's be honest...I wasn't in the best shape and could have trained way more than I did.  Actually, I hardly trained at all.  It was a huge wake-up call for my next race and the half marathon in November.  My feet feel great, hallelujah (!!), so I know I can keep training and get stronger. If you didn't know, one of the reasons I stopped running (besides marathon training burnout) was because I hurt my foot training and that hasn't quite healed.  My new shoes have helped tremendously though so I feel confident to keep going.  This race was sort of a test to see how it affect my feet. Now I know that I just have to get my booty out there and actually do it.

I made friends throughout the race and finished at 1:42.18, which is my slowest time by 31 minutes (PR set in 2012 when I was training for my marathon).  I got in the food line and got a strawberry popsicle and waited for Laura to finish.  I had seen her going down the other side of the bridge (3rd hill) while I was coming up my (4th bridge) final hill and knew she wouldn't be too far behind me.  She finished at 1:51:28.

Afterwards we went to Crazy Alan's Swamp Shack for lunch and drinks before heading home.  As you can imagine there isn't much plant based at a seafood place called the Swamp Shack, but I had a delicious meal of side veggies!

It was a great and even though I am slightly dreading the next two of the series, I am excited about the medals and calorie burning!  Ha!  I have a cruise in November after all! :)

The Snooze Button Is From The Devil

I listen to a daily call about MK called the Million $ Message.  The call is from 5 different people, each calling in one day a week to change the message on their specific day.  On Tuesday I heard from a director named Amber that “the snooze button was from the devil” and that we should never hit snooze.  I also heard the concept the same sort of concept from the book, the Miracle Morning.

The reason they say this because you are committing to yourself every night to get up at a specific time, but then you hit snooze, effectively starting off your morning not honoring your word from the night before, and losing integrity with yourself.  You say you want to be a person of excellence, yet you can’t even have the self-discipline to get up when you said you were going to.  If you start off this way, then you entire day might be the same way.

The Miracle Morning explains the snooze button as delaying your life, 10 minutes at a time.  You only get one life, but you choose to hit snooze (at least) 10 minutes a day.  You say you need more time, but yet the snooze button is more important than your goals.

I just love this concept!  Getting up at 4 am is so hard, but staying in the same place I am is so much harder.  I am yearning for “something more” in my life.  Don’t get me wrong, I have it pretty good, but I just feel like I am not doing what God has called me to do.  It’s time to change that.

Even when I got up at 4 am today, I struggled.  I am SO hoping that it will get much easier as I get used to the earlier bed time and earlier wake time, but for now I have to accept that I have to overcome my “tired” thoughts.   I have found it helpful to me if I say “I’m awake, I’m awake, I’m awake” when I first hear my alarm clock.  I also talk myself through the next steps of my morning routine.  Put the workout clothes on, put my shoes on, gather my things, go to the car, start driving, etc.  If I say “just do the next thing” and then the next thing, I find myself getting to where I need to be on time.

This morning I did that.  I stayed at my aunt’s new house that is 30 minutes extra drive for me.  That is hard because I already drive an hour (in traffic, 30 minutes otherwise) to work and didn’t “want to” drive further.  I made a commitment though and I stuck to it.  I got my clothes, packed my car and got on the road.  The ENTIRE time I had to talk myself into the next task.    I went back and forth on the drive talking myself into and out of a workout run. 

This is my head conversation this morning:  “I will just go, park and take an extra hour nap and then go get dressed,”  “No, if I work out I get to add four stickers to my chart” (I get a sticker for each mile or 30 minutes of workouts if I’m not running). The stickers made me want to run but then I would have the same nap conversation and started over.  I tried to distract myself in between.  The thing is, once I am on the walk/run, I feel great, the trick is just getting me there.

So I did 3.5 miles today and got four stickers.  I say four stickers because I did 3.5 miles on Monday and only gave myself 3 stickers, so I added the two .5’s for a fourth.  #smallthings  I am not sure why adding stickers to my chart (given to me at my TOPS meeting) helps motivate me so much, maybe it’s just a throwback to my childhood.  IDK, but it works so I am sticking to it.

Hopefully you can bring yourself to have your own MiracleMorning-----seriously, go buy that book.

20 Pounds Gone

I weighed myself yesterday and I have officially lost 20 pounds!!!!!  20 pounds in 4 ½ months!!!!!  My Whole Foods, Plant Based diet started on August 1^st and I weighed myself periodically and hit the 20 pound weight loss as of today! 

Honestly, I haven’t even been trying to lose weight.  I haven’t worked out more than 10 times in the entire four months. I know, I should do more workouts and with the start of my half marathon/10K training, I am hoping to lose more.  I need to stick to my half marathon training plan.

I think an average of five (ish) pounds per month isn’t too bad; it’s a little over one pound per week.  I have a cruise coming up over Thanksgiving so I am hoping to lose AT LEAST 20 more pounds, but my goal is 40!  That is 2.66 pounds per week to lose my 40 pound weight loss goal.  I can do it!!

 My goal is to not drink my calories.  I think that is a big hurdle.  I have gotten used to iced coffee, iced tea and soda and it needs to stop!  I mean, look at this chart!

Wish me luck on my journey!  It isn’t too late to sign up for our racing events in September, October and November with the Texas Bridge Series.

Texas Bridge Series Kick-off Party

Last night I went to the Running Alliance Sports, Texas Bridge Series Kick-off party at On the Run Clear Lake.  The event started at 6 pm and included a group run with borrowed shoes, giveaways (socks!), raffles, and more.  I got there about 5:45 pm and it was already packed. 

I tried on some Asaics shoes that they were letting everyone borrow for the group run, but I knew I wanted to get fitted for shoes that night with one of the staff.  There were a few vendors there including Feetures socks!

 

New socks!! 

I received a raffle ticket because I was signed up for the Texas Bridge Series already.  It turns out that the raffle ticket was an awesome because I won a free Nathan’s waterbottle!!!!

Since the place was packed, I waited until they did a group run and the majority of the people were gone before I got fitted for shoes.  When you are just starting to run, always, always, always get fitted for shoes because you can really hurt yourself without the proper shoe.  I used to just go by how cute the colors were, but I learned my lesson.  It’s free and it doesn’t take long. 

They had me try on 3 pairs of shoes to see which one fit the best.  My shoe fitter (didn’t get her name!) said that you shouldn’t feel the shoe at all.   The first pair I could feel the left part on my back heel and she said those won’t work because they are too far back.  The 2^nd pair weren’t wide enough so those were out too.  The third pair (I’m like Goldie Locks) I could not feel at all but I wasn’t too crazy about the color (gray) but she said they come in LIME GREEN!!

Hopefully you know me well enough to know the deep down significance of lime green in my life.

After I got my shoes I headed over to the social at Sherlock’s Pub that was happening across the street.  My aunt Laura was supposed to come with me (she’s signed up for the race too) but she ended up doing something else that night so I was on my own.  I can talk to anyone and promptly made 6 new friends to hang out with that didn’t come with anyone else either.  I tend to get a big group of singles together when I go places.  I enjoy talking and I’m not going to let the fact that I’m alone keep me from doing that! Haha.  The rest of the night was spent talking about running and trying to win raffles.  Someone else in my new friend group won a free pair of shoes from On the Run!

It was a great evening and I’m really excited about the races.  Hopefully my new kicks are just what the doctor ordered and my foot will be ok.  Wish me luck!

 

This year's medals!

p.s.  If you want to sign up for the races you have until July 31^st (which is THIS WEEKEND) to sign up before the price increase.  $130 for three race, four medals, and tons of race swag is an AMAZING PRICE!!  Snag it now. 

This year's 4th medal if you complete ALL THREE of the races.

1st Day of Training

So, I started my training last night for my out of retirement 10K and it hurt!  I haven't been running at all for the past 3 years so to run last night hurt.  I went to Memorial Park and did the three mile loop.  I did a walk/run combo of running every two light posts and walking the 3rd, repeat. I have to get back into the swing of running and working my mileage back up.

Follow me on insta!

  I used to park close to the clubhouse area but now I park a bit down the road.  The weather had a nice breeze to it since it looks like it was about to rain, so it wasn't unbearably hot outside.  I stopped about a quarter of a mile in to stretch (should have stretched at my car) and did some leg swings stretches that I learned while marathon training.  I also did some calf raises to stretch out my foot.

I started back and my left hip area started to hurt so I did some more stretching.  I do not want any injuries this time around and I know that me being so heavy these days does not help when it comes to injuries.  

At about my 2.5 my left foot started to hurt SO BAD!  I was afraid of hurting it like I did the last time (which was partly the reason for retirement) but it was the left foot instead of the right food from last time.

I went ahead and finished the 3 miles by just walking.  I really didn't have a choice because I had to make it to my car!   I passed the time by making a new friend and talking about running/weight loss.

Last time I hardly ever stretched, I ate horribly, never did cross training, and I over did my training with too many miles. I don't know that I realized it at the time but over 3 years of retirement, you realize these things!  

I got home and used my tiger tail (available on Amazon) for all over my legs.  I even used it on my foot a little bit but that is a really weird angle!

I think I am going to wait until I buy some new running shoes before I train anymore.  I am using some old ones that don't have too much mileage on them, but still aren't helping my foot.  There is a kick-off party at On the Run in the Webster area next Thursday and I think I will go to that to buy some.  (I think I read somewhere that there will be a discount for anyone who goes...but I could be making that up! ha).  Plus there are door prizes and I love door prizes!

I think I will buy a set of tennis balls to roll my foot on after each race.  I might bring one to work too so I can roll my foot while sitting at my desk working.  I miss running (there, I said it) so I want this to work out.  I REALLY miss the weight loss that I had with it.  I mentioned on my birthday post that I am afraid to lose weight and then gain it all back again OR only being able to lose it by doing tons of miles while training for a marathon.  I think if I just eat correctly (almost 4 months!), be active, and have a positive attitude about weight loss, I can get to where I was and then some.  Look at how skinny I was!  I will get there again, but this time without hurting myself via mileage.  

Yikes!

I have officially come out of my "running retirement" for at least one race, Toughest 10K Kemah. I will possibly sign up for the other races in the series, the Galveston 10K and LaPorte by the Bay Half Marathon depending on how this one goes.

The races are part of the Texas Bridge Series and if you complete all three races (same year), you get a 4th medal for free!!  I have done this race twice (#1 and #2) before and did the other races in the series as well (once for Galveston  #1 and twice for LaPorte, #1 and #2).  Or go to my Running page here to see all of my race recaps.


I LOVE all of the Running Alliance Sport races because they have the best medals and other race swag/perks.  Free beer!  Customized bibs!  Glitter and sometimes moveable parts on race medals!  Tech t-shirts in race packets!  Free parking!!  Etc!

The race registration is only $35 (that is CHEAP considering what all you get) until July 31st.


If you are interested (but maybe scared!), please consider just pulling the registration trigger and joining me.  I will help you AND as a bonus, any of my friends who join me that day will get a special present from me the day of the race.  (Don't ask me what it is, I don't know yet. haha).  I will need you to comment on FB (if we're friends) or email me steph53282 at yahoo.com to tell me you registered because of this post. (I don't get anything special because of it, I just want to see my friends get healthy and have fun).

Let's get our "healthy on" together!

For the story of how I started running, click here.  

Planning a Color Run and Raffle

This is take 2 of the How to Plan a 5K fundraiser post from a few years ago.  The 2014 Driving Jacks 5K and raffle raised just over $8,000 via a color run and raffle.  These are a few things we did to make our color run and raffle successful. 

Note:  This is a supplemental post on how to plan the Color Run and Raffle portion of the 5K.  If you want to know how to plan a 5K in general, go to the post above. ^^^^^^

Edit:  I have now created an entire website about planning a 5K and also ebook with forms, spreadsheets and sponsor packets.  Go to www.HowtoPlana5K.com to purchase the ebook to have access to the forms we used (including a bonus section about creating color runs)

A few other changes for the 2014 race
1.  We had three categories this year:  A timed 5K (not typical at color runs, but added participants), a non-timed 5K, and a Sleep In and Hit Snooze Option-best idea ever!  These are the people who wanted to donate to the 5K, but couldn't make it that day.  We mailed them their official 5K shirt after the race.  The price was the same as the color run ($20).

2.  The volunteers had tie-dye shirts this year instead of purple ones.  They also had to sell at least $30 in raffle tickets to get a tie-dye shirt.

3.  We changed the route up this year and people loved it!  The same route each year gets boring, this year it went through the azalea trail at SFA.

4.  Social media-this year we created a FB page for people to "like".  In the past, we have always created events on FB, this time we created an actual page.  Go here to like us! :)

5.  We had a sign for the participants to take pictures in front of that was donated. Loved it!

Color Run F.A.Q.

Did you need a lot of volunteers?
We planned the 5K the exact same way as a regular 5K, but instead of needing volunteers for a water station only, we needed them for throwing color on the patrons.  We had about 6-7 volunteers at each station, and two stations had 1-2 people at the water stops (just before the participants got to the color station).

Edit:  I have now created an entire website about planning a 5K and also ebook with forms, spreadsheets and sponsor packets. 

Can we make the color?
Well, we started to make it, but that was a disaster!  While it was drying, it got mold on it and we couldn't use it.  Making your own is MUCH cheaper, but you have to do it correctly, or it will be a waste of time/money.  To give you an idea, to make 150 lbs of color powder, it would have been $100, but to buy it, it cost us $675.  I am not 100% sure why ours didn't turn out, but I think it had something to do with the water/food color/powder consistency and/or that we stored it in a garage.  If you do make it, I would suggest leaving it in a temperature controlled room without a lot of moisture to avoid the mold growth like ours had.  Also, when we did make it, we went to a food supplier and bought 50 lb bags of corn starch and then added water/food coloring.  You can buy corn starch at Wal-Mart for $1/lb, but we got ours for $20/50 lbs-see a difference?  Make a small batch before you decide if it is worth your time and effort.  We watched a Youtube video on how to make it.

So, where did you buy the color then?
We bought ours through Chameleon Colors.  They were nice, professional, and shipped it to us in a short amount of time.  They already have boxes of it made, so we didn't have to wait.

How much color do we need?
We had about a lb per participant.  I researched it and it said anywhere from 1-2 lbs per person.  We found that 1 lb was plenty for all of participants and we even had some left over!  We had a 25 lb unopened box and a little bit of other color as well that we used for the fight at the end.

Did you have a fight at the end?
Yes, in the registration packets we gave all the participants a snack size ziplock bag of color.  Plus, we had the leftover color from the color station in a pile in the middle.  There was a HUGE cloud of color.  Some runs have a color cannon, but we just had them throw it at each other in a 'fight'.

Did you give your participants some in a goodie bag?
Yes, we made snack size ziplock bags of color and gave it to the participants in their goodie bag.  They sell color packs where you can buy them already pre-made, but we decided that we didn't need to buy them.  They were 'fancy' and we were a small race that didn't need all of that.  We added about a handful or two to each ziplock.

Did the color come out of the shirts?
We had a info sheet on how to get rid of the color that we put in their participant bags.  I just googled how to get the color out and typed it up in word.  I am not sure if it came out, I stayed away from all that color! :)

Was the cleanup bad?
We had four color stations, 1 was easy, 2 were ok, and 1 was a nightmare.  3 of them we put a plastic tarp down to minimize the mess.  We got a roll of it at Home Depot for around $20.  We laid it down on the ground and duct taped it.  The volunteers were on each side, throwing the color.  It helped the mess A LOT!  At the first stop we were able to use a leaf blower to clean up and it was a breeze.  The next two had a few patches that we poured water on, but the last stop was a disaster. They didn't have a plastic sheet down and the color was everywhere!  I know that if we didn't have a sheet down on all of them, it would have been a lot worse.  We used the left over water from the water station buckets to clean it up, and then refilled them instead of lugging around a water hose.  We also had a push broom to help clean up.

What supplies did you buy specifically for the color portion of the race?
We bought plastic sheet roll that is super thin (sort of like those restaurant glove material) to keep the mess minimized.  We also bought squeeze bottles (6 for $5 at Sam's) to throw the color and a push broom for clean up (we actually borrowed that).  Plus the color too.

Did you have a timed start?
Most color runs do not have a timing system, they just say start and you finish when you finish.  I am a runner myself (and love giving out awards) and we figured we would get  lot of registrations having both a timed and non-timed race.  It was an added expense $800, but it worked out.

Where did you get the awards?
OMG!  Aren't they awesome?  I wanted something custom made this year, so I looked on Etsy and found a seller that makes custom awards.  His name is John and his site is called I Love Geocaching and he is AWESOME to work with. We got them in the shape of Texas and there is a cutout heart where Nacogdoches is, plus our logo.  I added a lime green ribbon to make them into ornaments.  We also used Crown Trophy to make some plaques for us for the overall winners.

Did everyone wear the same shirt?
We had the participants wear their white participant shirt (or any white shirt they wanted), but the volunteers had tie-dye shirts to wear.  We bought the shirts directly from the manufacture since it would cost about double for the screen printing company to provide them.

Edit:  I have now created an entire website about planning a 5K and also ebook with forms, spreadsheets and sponsor packets. 

Raffle F.A.Q.'s
How many raffle items did you have?
I believe it was around 44.

How did you get raffle items?
We made a list of the people we wanted to donate and then sent them a letter telling them about Driving Jacks and asked for the donation.  We mailed/dropped off/emailed about 140 requests and got back about 50 raffle donations plus sponsors.  A lot of them were people we knew that wanted to donate and who had businesses or worked at businesses.  People to ask are friends to sell items (like Mary Kay, Scentsy, etc), sports teams, tourist attractions in the area, restaurants, etc.

Who did you sell to?
Everyone!  We ran out of time, otherwise we would have set up a table at a grocery store or Walmart type store.  We mainly sold them to our friends and family.  I personally sold about $400 in tickets, the top person sold almost $700.  I tried to post about it on my personal FB page about once a week.

How many people sold raffle tickets?
Ummmm.  About 30?  I am not sure, but that sounds about right.

What were you 'big' items or top prizes?
An Apple iPad (donated) and a GoPro Camera (bought)

Where did you keep the tickets?
We had a raffle drum that I borrowed from my stepmom. I didn't want to buy one just for this event, but I am glad we had one.  I think you can get them for about $100 online, but a lot of elementary schools or car dealerships have them-ask if you can borrow one.

Did you give your top sellers any prizes?
We purchased three gift cards for the top two in sales ($50 and $25) and one random winner ($25). In order to be in the contest, you had to sell over $30 in tickets.

Who drew the winners?
We had someone who did not buy  tickets or sell tickets draw the names.  I didn't want someone to think it was rigged or anything, so we chose someone who didn't have anything to do with the tickets.  We also recorded it for anyone to see (just in case).

Where and when did you host the raffle?
The drawing was held at 11 am the day of the race.  We had time to finish cleaning up and then head to the office to draw.  I didn't want to lug all the prizes to the start/finish area and then worry about the wind and stuff.  It was easier to keep it all in one place.

What did you tickets say?
The State of TX is very specific about what needs to be on the tickets, I'm sure other states do as well.  I would check what your state requires.  Our tickets had our name, date and time of raffle, address, official rules, and the prize listing on one section.

Were you able to get ahold or everyone?
Yep!  We just called the number on the slip.  We did leave some voicemails, but they called back right away.  You always call back quickly when you win something!  It also helps to call everyone, leave messages if you have to, and then go back to the ones who you left messages for.  If they see a number a few times, they figure it is someone important.

Did you buy any raffle prizes?
We only bought one item, the GoPro Camera, all others were donated.  We needed to get the tickets printed and at that time we only had one 'big' item donated, so we voted to buy the other big item.  Some organizations buy all of their big items, but we only needed to buy one.

How much did you end up making from the raffle?
I am not sure the exact totals for the raffle.  We had sponsorships and registration fees to add up, but then expenses. It's hard to tell.  I do believe that without the raffle, we would have had a lot less profit, probably only about $3,000-$4,000 instead of $8,000.  (that could be bad math though!)

Where did you buy the raffle tickets?  Did you make them?
I got them online through a printer.  We order 4,000 of them and sold probably about 2,500-3,000. I don't have the exact totals in front of me.  We spent (with shipping) about $175 on the tickets.  I didn't want to print them ourselves because by the time we created them, bought the paper and ink, etc., we would have just spent that time on something else.  It is an expense, but worth it.

Edit:  I have now created an entire website about planning a 5K and also ebook with forms, spreadsheets and sponsor packets. 

Roc Race Recap

On Saturday morning I drove to Baytown to run in the ROC Race with the Wino Warriors.  A group of about 6 of us were supposed to race, but only 3 of us were able to race.  Well, we aren't sure about two of the team members, but Krista, Tyler and I for sure represented for Team Wino Warriors.

The ROC Race had waves all day, starting at 8 am and ending at 6:30 pm, and our wave was at 9 am.  I woke up around 6:30 am and headed to Baytown to meet Krista at Wal-Mart and carpool together.  the race had a $10 parking fee in addition to the registration fee, so to save $$, we drove together.  I don't exactly know how much the race fee was, but it was over $50, plus fees, so free parking should have been included.  I'm sure it was the hosting site and not the race itself, but they should have negotiated the parking with the rental. 

Anyway, we got to the race right at 8 am and got the race packets.  I had picked mine up the day before, but Krista and Tyler got theirs that morning.  Krista's mom, Ginger,  came to watch baby Levi while we were racing.  While we were waiting for them to come, I took this photo of them.  Ready to 'ROC'. ;)

There were 12 obstacles covering 3 miles.  You run on the track for a bit, hop over a wall, and then run around another track.  The first water station was at the weirdest place, about a quarter mile in.  We weren't even thirsty yet! 



From the ROC race website

The first few obstacles were easy, but I could not do some of them like the monkey bars (no upper body strength-workin' on it though) or the bouncy balls.  On the 2nd or 3rd obstacle, there was a pool of water at the end of a slide and then the next obstacle was a wooden wall that you needed to climb that was very slippery.  Logistically, that wasn't a smart move. LOL.  There were three heights of the wall, I took the shortest, since I am a shorty and I didn't want to get hurt.  There was also a big bouncy thing where you take a running leap and slide across a field of bubbles.  That was cool.

Go here to see a video of the obstacles on the ROC Race website. (a few of these obstacles were not on our course-I guess they have a few that are rotating amongst cities)

My favorite obstacles were at the end.  The three coolest ones were at the end, the rotating bar, the swinging red balls with a balance beam, and a GIANT slide.  The big red balls were rotating with a crane and you had to run across a balance beam that sort of rotated.  Out of me, Krista and Tyler, Krista is the only one that made it across without falling.  I fell almost immediately into the pool of heavily chlorinated water.  It was super fun. 

Charlie's Angels waiting in line for the rotating bar.

The rotating bar was also on a sort of platform. I had to duck about 3 times to make it across-easy but fun!  Then the last obstacle was a huge slide that you walk up...omg so much fun!!!  They squirt you down with a water before you slide, so you are soaking wet at the finish.  I want one for a birthday party of mine!!!!

At the end, you can get your picture taken in an area full of bubbles.  Team Wino Warriors!

We had a lot of fun at this race!  It wasn't timed, so I have no idea what my final time was.  We all stuck together the entire time.  Krista fell in the weirdest angle on the bouncy ball obstacle (I will say that those were a hazard because the first ball-at least on ours-ws not inflated enough), it was painful to watch, but I think it only hurt her pride. I am sure she was very sore the next day!  There were a few bumps and bruises that we saw along the way.  One lady snapped her ankle and left in an ambulance after falling on the rotating wrecking balls into the water (the lifeguard had to jump in to save her) and one guy busted his head open with blood everywhere after sliding down too fast on the rotating beam.

There wasn't much swag with the high price of admission, only a t-shirt and a bib.  No water at the end or anything.  I guess that is part of the traveling race companies-they gotta make that money!  We did have fun though, I would recommend doing it with friends.

SFA and Driving Jacks Visit

I am on the planning committee for the 2014 Driving Jacks 5K as the Race Director. I planned the 5K in 2012, but I was in Africa for the 2013 race. Back in October my friend Hector asked if I was going to plan it for 2014 and I was hesitant. The race is a lot of work and a big time commitment as the race director and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be involved that heavily again. I said that if no one else wanted to be the race director, then I would as long as I had other alumni helping me. Luckily, there are 5 other alumni that are on the committee and a great chair of the Nacogdoches Driving Jacks committee (actual DJ members). The race was my idea back in 2012 so I want to see it continue each year. The way it is set up is that the DJ Alumni Committee plans the event and the Nac Committee help be our ‘feet on the street’ for things that we need done in Nacogdoches itself. We didn’t want the Nac Committee to have to do too much in terms of planning the race, we want them to focus on making Driving Jacks itself the best organization it can be.

So, I went up to Nac two weekends before Thanksgiving to do some stuff with the 5K route and a have a meeting with the new Driving Jacks President and Vice President. I left my house early that morning and made the drive to Nacogdoches. My plan was to run the route and do some other 5K stuff, but I didn’t end up making it to run the route (that came a few weekends later). Plus, I didn’t really want to have a meeting with the new Prez and VP all sweaty!

I spent my time shopping for new SFA gear (I got two new shirts!) and going around Nacogdoches to see what changes there were. This sign was at B&N and I thought it was hilarious! I didn’t get it though.

After the meeting with the new Prez and VP I was going to head home since it was getting late. I really wanted to meet some of the members of Driving Jacks at operations, so I stayed until they came in to volunteer. I was in the office with a DJ officer and a new member and they were asking me questions about the first night and the first semester. He asked me if I remembered what the first car was and I told him it was a Dodge Magnum. I asked if they had ever seen the pictures of the first night, but they hadn’t so I showed him all of my DJ pictures of that semester from my phone.

I went to hang out with the other members that were starting to congregate in the commons area. I was watching how they do the refresher now and it is super cool. The refresher is when they ask questions about DJ operations and how to respond. Instead of random slips of paper, they post the questions on the back of playing cards. <--they also="" are="" back="" compared="" day="" did="" fancy="" first="" how="" in="" it="" lol="" mode="" p="" semester="" survival="" that="" the="" to="" we="" were="">

One of the officers that was working that night introduced me to everyone. I told them who I was and that we are planning a 5K fundraiser again this year for them. Then I asked if they wanted to see pictures (they did), and I showed them the pics and told lots of funny/sad/sweet memories that I had. It was honestly my favorite time to ever go back to SFA as an alumni. I don’t know if it was because I was by myself and not in a group, but they asked me lots of questions and actually talked to me. Each time I had gone up there before I had always been in a group of people or with my friends so they never really asked us questions. I loved that I actually got to speak with them that weekend! Love me some DJ.


Afterwards I went to my car and was driving out when I saw the Austin building lit up in purple. So pretty! Please excuse the bad camera phone picture; it is much prettier in real life. The building is lit up for SFA’s 90^th anniversary.

I posted on FB about being at Nac to talk to the members about the early beginnings of Driving Jacks and tagged some people from that first semester. Old alumni were posting stories and pictures, it was great. Like I said, it was my favorite time to go up there ever!