Grace Community Church - 1st Annual Miles for Missions 5K

I was on the planning committee for a 5K that our church hosted - The Miles for Missions 5K. This was the 1st year and I have to say, it was WONDERFUL!! Everything ran very smoothly with only a few tiny glitches. I was blessed to work with a GREAT group of people and got to know a lot of new people in our church!

The fabulous planning committee

Our fearless leaders - Terry and Suzanne

The weather was wonderful - a few clouds and mid-40s at the start of the race. Considering that the forecast had been possible sprinkles and/or snow flurries, we were very happy with the weather :)

Since this was our 1st time organizing a 5K, we had hoped to get 100 participants...God brought us 300 participants!!!! ALL of the proceeds this year are going to local Raleigh missions/ministries that focus on ending hunger and homelessness in our area. We raised an impressive $6300 this year!!!

Katie made this incredible display of all the ministries that the race was supporting!Registration/packet pickup

Matt & Stephen - their office was one of our sponsors (Robins & Morton)Lilly helping with early morning race setupHeading to the starting line

John (our pastor) praying just before the race startedGinger riding as the "Grand Marshall" in the lead police carAt the starting line

And their off!

Matt crossing the finish line (with Corey handing just behind cheering him on)Because the race was just before Valentine's Day, we thought it would be nice to offer a "Sweetheart Division". Basically, any couple could register separately, but then also indicate that they were a couple and the 3 couples with the lowest combined times were awarded a gift certificate to local restaurants. We also had a competitive division, recreational division (to encourage a lot of our church members to get involved), a 14 and under division (which we had a LOT of kids sign up for!), and a Kid's Dash.

After the race, we had a lunch for all of the participants, spectators, and volunteers of soup and chili, bread, and fruit.
Lilly was a trooper throughout the entire process. Plans started long before she was born and Lilly didn't miss a single meeting. She was also at packet pick up on Friday night and at the church very early Saturday morning with me through the entire clean up process.

I am looking forward to starting plans for the 2nd Annual Miles for Missions 5K next year (tentatively scheduled for February 9th, 2013)!!