Half for Me; Full for Ray; and ALL for Africa!

Today, December 5, 2010 at 8AM 22,000 plus runners ran the White Rock Marathon/Half/and Relay. Earlier this year our church was presented with an amazing opportunity to partner with Team World Vision in an effort to raise funds for a water project in Uganda. Many individuals from our ABF including both the husband and I joined to support such an amazing cause.

Ray and I were set... well I guess as ready as we ever would be for his Full Marathon which equaled 26.2 miles and my half 13.1. Since we had signed up we both had wonderful intentions of training; however, life happened and shall I say that we (probably only me) have been overwhelmed with this upcoming race. At the beginning of this year, Ray made a New Years Resolution to complete a half marathon each month. 10 half marathons were behind him until he hit a small snag in November where he was forced to take a break due to some major joint pain. It seems the break did him well.... because today we both completed our goal and ran for Team World Vision!

Enjoy pictures from Race Day! Here's a huge congrats to all those that ran as well as to all the fans for their love and support.

4:50 AM... Let's get the party started!
Hello Race Day!

The husband and I

A very cold race day sunrise... as we waited in a very long line for parking:)
Waiting (for an hour) to begin our race! It was COLD!

Our ABF Relay Team

2010 Finishers

The Zoutendams and their first Half Marathon!
Julie and I! Don't let those little legs fool you...
she is a champ!

2nd Full Marathon Completed. I am a very proud wifey!
Zellners for Team World Vision

Michael completed his second marathon with a new PR!

Steph completed her half marathon in under two hours!

Stretching out our sore feet

A beautiful (but chilly) Fair Park Sunday
...

Our amazing Honeymooner Supporters

Here are a few of the great moments from today.
- It was a very cold race day. 36 degrees with a wind chill factor of 31. Gotta love cold fronts:)
- Running for Team World Vision and supporting efforts in Uganda
- Beginning my run with some very lovely ABF ladies... I am so proud of ya'll!
- Hearing my name cheered in the crowd. You never realize what a great motivator this is.
- Love that tissues were handed out during the race.
- Poor Ray's ipods (2 of them) stopped working... so he was left without his music.
- I loved watching my husband's face as he crossed the finish line to complete his second marathon
- Getting lost of the way to the car... thank you sweet lady who drove us there!
- Getting shirt burns yet having no blisters?!?! I still can't figure this one out. ha.
- Dinning at Abuelos for a late lunch after the race
...

More pictures are sure to come. Now I am enjoying a day of relaxing and blogging of course:)


For more information about Team World Vision and how you can support and change the lives of Africa click here.

Team World Vision & White Rock Registered!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

The hubs and I are registered for The Dallas White Rock Marathon/Half Marathon on December 5, 2010. As previously mentioned we will be running with Team World Vision through the Heights Baptist Church to support our Water Project in our Partner village of Kyalulangira, Uganda.

To view my PERSONAL Team World Vision Page here.
or you can click on the picture link on the right hand side listed under Team World Vision Donations.

I am so very excited and anxious for our team to begin our group runs. While I am still in the process of getting back into the shape I was previously in... I am so very excited about the opportunity to participate for such a wonderful cause. Enjoy some pictures from The Dallas White Rock Marathon/Half Marathon on December 14, 2008.

Michael and Raymond complete their first marathon!
(26.2 miles and still looking great!)


Ray and I with our first race medals!

One of my favorite parts of the race was hearing the amazing fans shout my name. Something incredible happened and it gave me such a great boost of energy. I thought to myself... they know me and are cheering for me! Then you come to realize that your bib has your name on it... but still such an incredible experience:)

More posts will be coming shortly with all the amazing updates. Be sure to check out our pages within the next few days to assist us in our donation goal for Team World Vision.

5K AMs, Accomplished, & Great News!!!

This morning, the alarm sounded at 6:30AM. The sun had barely peeked over the trees and I was not looking forward to an early AM run. I kept catching myself saying I didn't get enough sleep... I'm too tired to attempt this and so on and so forth. But my husband in his muffled sleeping voice kept telling me how proud he was which did resonate in my head... Finally I forced myself out of bed. I am so happy I had. This morning was great. Even though it has been over a year since one of our races and I am honestly not in the shape I used to be... it is so motivating to see how many individuals from our honeymooners class will be running the White Rock Marathon and Half for Team World Vision.

This morning I only ran about a good two plus miles... I'm hoping that one of these days I can find a path by our apartment that is a little more accurate for a 5K. Regardless I am proud. This morning felt great... don't get me wrong. I was completely out of breath and my face looked like a ripened tomato but no stitches or pains which has always been the worst part for me. Plus I even got proposed to! Some random guy on a bicycle (older gentleman) told me he was proud and I was doing a great job. He said I looked beautiful and asked if I would marry him. Then he questioned me if I was dating anyone. I kindly told the man I was married but thanked him for the compliment and went on my marry way... looking so incredibly "beautiful" with sweat covering my face which happened to be that glowing red I previously mentioned. Ha! But all in all a great start to the morning.

So I will leave you with this... I would love to say that I will be so incredibly motivated and go running 3-4 mornings out of the week... but lets be real. I am just so excited about getting back into great shape and helping such an amazing cause. More posts will be coming shortly to keep you updated on our running status. Only 137 days left until the race.

For more information on the Dallas White Rock Marathon, Half Marathon, and relay races click here. Be sure to sign up for early registration. Cut off for early registration is September 30, 2010.

Morning's Accomplishments:

1. Morning Run: Practice for Dallas White Rock 1/2 Marathon: Race Day December 5, 2010
2. Get further information about the Alt Cert Program: Sent in official transcripts... Program is officially underway.
2. Emailed contact for Circle of Friends: Engage Opportunity through The Heights.
3. Required Apartment information for new apartments has been sent... move out date Sept 24, 2010. We're moving to McKinney!
4. Reviewed points card... every mile helps us get closer and closer to our trip next year.
5. Emailed contact for Joyland so we may serve within the church.

This week has already been such a great week (minus a broken camera... boo:( but a lot of small details have officially been taken care of to meet our current goals. I am so excited and look forward to many more posts and updates:)

Well you've heard him correctly... we have great news here!

1. Friday, Ryan lost his job. Monday he starts a better one!
2. This Holiday Ryan, Farrah, and this little cutie...

will be joining us for Christmas!

I am so amazed at how perfect God's timing is. God is the author of our stories. I am so thankful for the story he has written for us:)

Dallas White Rock World Vision Team!

This past Sunday, Ray went to a meeting at The Heights to look into a marathon team that was being put together to support an amazing charity. Team World Vision will be racing on December 5, 2010 at the Dallas White Rock Marathon. All donations will be raised to support World Vision and their efforts in Uganda to change the lives of the children and their community.

Here is the information provided:

Dallas White Rock
December 5th 2010

Why Should I Run?
Through this spiritual and physical life-changing experience you will be stretched beyond your comfort zone and in the process will... help more children by providing the right resources for a sustainable impact for children and their communities and you will be the voice for the poor by being in partnership with the poor and leveraging your influence as an effective agent for change to tackle the root causes of poverty and injustice.

What Do I Do?
1. Register with Team World Vision! (You make your own web page)
2. Click the link and register with White Rock!
3. Order your shirt, cause they are cool and cool!
4. Start Training and Raising donations for those in need!

How Do I Find Out Information?
Everything is online- sign up, training, and web donation pages...

Web- www.teamworldvision.org/Dallas
Meetup.com- www.meetup.com/twvdallas
Facebook- Dallas, TX- Team World Vision
Email- You will receive weekly emails from Team World Vision encouraging you during your training and to inform you of race information.

Key Dates:
July 10th: Dallas Run On at Mockingbird and 75
August 2nd: official Full Marathon training begins
August 2nd: Base Half Marathon training begins
August 7th: Group runs start at 6AM at White Rock Lake
September 13th: Official Half Marathon training begins
October 24th: 5 Mile Training race with 13.1 Us Road Sports
December 5th: Race Day

It's amazing how God can speak to us in so many different ways. Many of you may have read that I've been really feeling the need to complete another half or even a full (this would be my ultimate dream) and what could be better than to run for not only myself but for something that is absolutely bigger than me and bigger than I could ever imagine. Both Ray and I are looking forward to participating in such an amazing cause. I will have to keep you posted on the upcoming activities. And if this is something that tugs at your heart as much as ours... feel free to join us. There are numerous ways to participate. Join us as a runner or give a donation! Again our information/donation pages will be put up shortly... so please feel free to take a look and do something that is greater than you!

PS. I simply loved this picture... and while it is definitely a thought that may go through your head... you know you are running for something more!

RUN A RACE. CHANGE LIVES IN AFRICA.

Love,
Alicia