I originally planned to blog about all my 5ks but I completely forgot about the last 5k I did! It was a last minute signup and I ended up not taking it very seriously walking most of the way so I forgot all about it. However, it was a great cause and a cool race so I wanted to share!

Held way back on October 6, the event was actually a Camp Good Grief 5K, 1 Mile Fun Run, and Yellow Balloon Safety Parade. The events were held inside Memorial Park Cemetery, one of the partners and supporters of Camp Good Grief. It was really lovely to run past ornate gravestones, statues, and memorial headstones throughout the cemetery – it was a surprisingly peaceful and beautiful place to run a 5k.

Yep, the whole race was in the cemetery!

The 5k benefits Camp Good Grief – the Mid-South’s first children’s bereavement camp. The goal of the free annual bereavement camp is to give area children — ages 6 to 12 — an enjoyable, accepting and supportive environment in which they can freely express their feelings about the loss of a loved one. The camp is made possible through a grant from Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation, individual donations and partnerships with local businesses like Pugh’s Flowers, Pugh’s Earthworks, Holiday Ham and Deli, and Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery. This year the race raised almost 16k in the race, which is really great.

Most people in the race were running in remembrance of someone. I went to the race with my brother and his girlfriend who were running for members of her family.

My brother actually kicked some major butt and finished 4th in his age group with a time of 27:34, an 8:53 min mile. He ran track and cross country in high school and recently started running again. He is getting continually faster.

My time ended up being 52:21 or a 16:53/mile. I only ran the first mile because after the 1 mile marker I caught up to my friend and her daughter. I really wanted to hang out with them so I ended up walking the next 2 miles. We actually stopped several times – to view family gravestones, to let the kid play on some things, and just when the kid was tired and wanted to do something else. The time for the 5k was pretty dismal but considering how slow we walked and how many times we stopped it actually wasn’t bad. I finished 13 of 15 in my age group. I wish I had used something to measure how fast I did that first mile, I think it was a bit over 12 minutes – fast for me!

I loved this race and plan to do it again next year.

If you want to learn more about the race and sign up for next year, check out Camp Good Grief 5k!