Toys for Tots 5K

The Marines sponsored a Toys for Tots 5k run today.  Entrance fee was a new unwrapped toy to be donated to kids who might not otherwise get a toy for Christmas.  This year, a great deal of them are going up to Sendai where they are still recovering from the tsunami.  I've been working up to run a 5k for quite a while and William had the day off from school, so we both went to run.  Caroline was kind enough to buy our two entrance fee toys, brought William to base (I came over from work), cheer us on, and take pictures.

5k runs are pretty popular on base, but I didn't really expect to see...

 ...so many Marines.

 And yes, they are running in their boots.

And they're off!  On the far side, you can see William running with the big boys.  He wanted to start up front.  I told him to keep to the side (I had visions of a wall of booted Marines bearing down on him...)

He ran the last 5k in 26 minutes even.  We weren't entirely sure that was an accurate time since it seemed kinda fast for everyone.  We tried to prep William that his time might be slower this time.

I knew the Marines would be passing me by, so I started from the rear.  I saw William as he was returning from the half-way point.  He had a huge smile on his face and was doing awesome.  We did a high-five as we passed and a guy behind me yelled, "Go Oregon!"

 OK, if you look behind the guy who obviously didn't want to be beat by an 8 year old, you will see William finishing (and getting a side 5 from Santa).  You can't see the time from this shot, but Caroline shot another picture of him with the clock about 20 seconds later.

 Wow! 23 minutes and 39 seconds!  That is averaging around 7 and a half minutes per mile.  A pretty healthy pace at any age.  Great job William!

 Santa got bored before I finally came along.  Still, I'm pretty proud of finishing under 30 minutes.

 William was first in the 17 and under division (a tough crowd to run with...) and got another high five from Santa and some prizes from the Marine tending the toy box.

 A shirt (that I might end up with for Christmas) and a Challenge Coin.

It came with a "History of Challenge Coins" that was pretty interesting.  It reads: "Challenge Coins surfaced during the World War II era.  The practice of carrying a coin designed specifically for a unit was popular with the Army Special Forces.  Carrying the coin at all times and presenting it when "Challenged" to prove affiliation with that unit resulted in a number of consequences for those who could not produce a coin;  the most popular required the coinless soldier to buy a round of drinks.  That practice continues to be popular today."

So, William should be safe from having to buy all those Marines a round of drinks... :-)