# 100!!!

Jerry and Asia before the start. Notice the Bib # 100!!!

Part of our fabulous team!!

Asia and Jenny, a friend she ran with in high school.

The last shreds of pulled pork! The Buffalo Wild Wings were long gone!!

It was a crazy week! There was something going on every night. Monday was the holiday, Tuesday night was RF501 practice, Wednesday the Fair opened with a parade and rides; Thursday, organizing stuff to take to the Expo. Friday morning I arrived at work to find not 1 but 2 giant Rice Crispie treats, one with 100 in M&Ms and the other with 100 in Hershey Kisses that my friend Mary had made for Asia. Later Friday we had Asia's Person Centered Planning meeting, then the Stampede (the celebration dinner before the Dexter-Ann Arbor (DxA2 from here on) race, then back to Milan for the Fair week fireworks. Whew!!

Saturday was the DxA2 Expo, and Coach Gina was kind enough to arrange a table for us to celebrate Asia's 100th race. We really wanted to use the opportunity of the race to show the abilities of persons with autism. There was a wonderful article in AnnArbor.com on Tuesday that brought a lot of attention to our table. http://www.annarbor.com/news/milan-woman-overcomes/ We used the time at the Expo to talk about Asia's running career as well as raise some $$$ for Operation Jack/Train4Autism. Linda Doll helped me set up the booth and man it until early afternoon. We had a blast!

Last night was exciting! After hearing all day that storms were in the forecast, when none had materialized by bedtime we went to bed without a care in the world! At 2:30 a dear friend called from many miles away to tell us there was a tornado virtually in our backyard! And then the power went out!! Fortunately, we have a whole-house generator, so we were back in the juice and could monitor the storm movement on TV...........well, I did..........Jerry went back to sleep! I guess he figured if we were carried off to OZ he would know it soon enough.

At dawn the power was still off, and one of the things we didn't connect to the generator was the stove.....figuring that we could microwave or use the grill. Well, Asia's preferred and proven *race day breakfast* of Jimmy Dean Hot sausage and scrambled eggs required the grill, so at first light I was in the back yard frying up sausage!

The power was back on by the time we left, but the whole night/morning had thrown my timing and organization off, so we left without Asia's fuel belt and *chocolate water*. Operator error!!

We met up with and took pictures with as many of the team as we could before time to line up at the start. Katie, Gwen, Jen, John, Joy, and the rest of *Team Ted* took Asia with them to get a good place at the start. Asia doesn't pass people well, so the closer we can get her to the front, the better overall race she will have. It was scheduled for an 8:30 Start time, right? NOT! The storm last night had taken a tree down across the course and would cause a 30 minute delay while crews with chainsaws cut it apart and hauled it off the road!

OK, cue the mad dash to the port-a-johns!

At 8:50 we found Asia's starting group again and sent her off with them. Jerry and I made our way to the front timing mat to try to get an accurate start time for her.

National anthem, wheelers off and gone, and ...........*Runners take your mark!.........GO!!!!*

We watched as Asia and her group crossed the start and dashed off to the car to beat them to the 2 mile point.

John, Katie's husband, was the first of our team at the 2 mile. We ticked them off........John, Claudio, Farsad, and more, and then .......whoa!! There was Asia at a better-than-8:30 pace!! Fast forward to mile 5, she had slipped back a bit but was still doing amazing. On to mile 8.5, snapping pictures of the team as they passed, little did I know that somewhere along the line my camera got switched to video mode. So what I thought were snaps of the runners turned out to be a flash of them going by, followed by pavement, shoes, grass, and the inside of my race bag :>( ........sigh.......Hopefully Jerry's turned out better!

From Mile 8.5 we headed for the finish. Parking in A2 is always a challenge, but we found a space in the structure at 4th and Liberty, only a few blocks from the finish line. We arrived too late to see John cross, but Claudio and Eduardo had just finished. I slipped inside the gate and made my way to the finish line on the runners side while Jerry headed up the block to alert me to all of our finishers and to get that last minute sprint out of Asia. One by one they crossed the line, some looking better than others. Jerry met up with our friend Maryann, who had driven down from Pinckney to witness the historic 100th race.....Asia had guilted her for weeks into coming so even the storms of last night couldn't keep her away! We knew from previous runners the time lapse from when Jerry saw them to when I saw them cross the finish line. When Jerry spotted Asia and I added the seconds to when she could cross, I realized that she could have a PR and started cheering for her even tho I couldn't see her yet. Her actual time was 8 seconds over her PR time, but still an incredible race! She finished in 1:47:56...totally on her own. 8:15 pace. It was her best race of the year so far, and a fantastic time. We finished the morning off at the Taste of Ann Arbor, where Asia ate her fill of Buffalo Wild Wings and pulled pork. What a great day! Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes in advance and those who were there today to cheer in person!

Dexter-Ann Arbor Half-Marathon 2009

After a fortifying breakfast of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage and scrambled eggs, Asia's typical race day breakfast, we left for Dexter. After meeting up with Katie and John, and Katie's best friend Pam, in the parking lot we walked to the school to meet the rest of the team. It was a gorgeous, clear, cool June morning and everyone was ready to run. The team had received their new race singlets the day before, so most of our people were in blue.

Because Asia has a tendency to go out too fast at the beginning, Katie has been working on keeping Asia with her during practice runs. This is not an easy task. It's not so critical on the local runs, but will be very important at the Detroit Marathon in October, when the course carries them across the Ambassador Bridge to Canada and back thru the Windsor Tunnel. Rather than keep calling her back, or urging her on faster, she and Asia decided on a code word that would mean, "Asia, slow down" or Asia speed up a little" depending on the circumstances. The code word was BURRITO. I could only imagine what would go thru the other runners' minds if Katie had to shout out "BURRITO" at the top of her lungs several times on the course!

After some pre-race pictures John took off for his warm-up run and the rest of us made our way to the starting line.

Katie and Asia found their spot in the mass of runners and I made my way to the front, close to the timing mat so I could get an accurate start time on my watch.

There was one wheeler entry this year, but I'm sorry to say I can't find her name. The crowd of runners and spectators sent her off with cheers and applause. There were 2434 runners waiting at the start.

As soon as Katie and Asia crossed the start Jerry and I took off for our car and raced to the 2 mile point. We realized quickly what a difference it made having our team dressed alike. We could look for the distinctive blue singlets and THEN look at the faces. We were able to see, cheer for, and photograph many more of our runners. We spotted Claudio, who looked strong, and incredibly fast. That was the last time we saw him......he beat us to every stop. We saw Rob, Marie, Stephanie, Michael M., Gianna, Eric, Aaron, Rick, Andrea,and many of the others. After Asia and Katie passed us, We made another mad dash for the car and headed for the 5 mile point.

We had brought "chocolate water" (Gu + water) for Asia and an extra water bottle for Katie, even though there were water stations at every 2 mile point along the course. Katie grabbed Asia's water from Jerry and kept on going.......and so did we....on to the 8 mile point.

At mile 8 everyone still looked good....their excellent training paying off! After a quick water bottle handoff, from Katie to me this time, we took off for downtown Ann Arbor and the finish line.

The crowd lining the street was almost impassable. We could see that Andrea and Claudio had already finished but had no idea of their times. Heather caught up with us and filled us in on their amazing finishes. Claudio finished in 1:23:12 and Andrea in 1:34:59.

We finally found a thin spot in the crowd and elbowed our way to the front to watch for our girls. Katie and Asia finished in 1:50:08 and 1:50:09...PR times for that race for both of them!! Katie was thrilled that she didn't have to use the "secret word" once! She said later that she felt they had evolved into a great running team.

We made our way to the team area to wait for John to find us and for pictures with the team and their medals. As we left the group to go have some lunch Jerry and I marveled again at our great good fortune to have found this amazing group of people. They have not only embraced Asia as one of their own, but also accepted us as part of the running family too! And then there's Katie, who has gone beyond being a running partner and become a true friend to Asia (and us).

Thanks to you all in Running Fit 501 for another great season. The short break will be harder for Asia, who misses you all terribly. See you in a couple of weeks!

Running Fit 501 Winter 2009 Graduation

Today was the last long run of the winter 2009 session of the Running Fit Marathon Training Team. To celebrate, several members baked for days, decorating cookies and cupcakes with 501 frosting in all the color groups. Coach gave awards and certificates to Color Group coaches, Top Dawgs and Experts. Asia got an award for her nearly 11 years of consecutive days of running. Coach shared a story with the other team. After she finished her first marathon, the first words out of her mouth were, "I'll NEVER do that again!" When she met Asia as she crossed the finishline at the Martian Marathon in April, the first words out of Asia's mouth were, "How much do I run tomorrow Coach?"

For many of the members, the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run tomorrow http://dexterannarborrun.com/ is their destination event......the one they have trained for all winter. Some are running their first ever 5K. Some are doing the 10K, and others, like Asia, Katie, Aaron, Claudio, Andrea, and others are running the half-marathon. In all we have 61 team members competing in one of the races tomorrow, down scenic Huron River Drive. There are 3 places along the route where Jerry and I can see the runners pass. It's a point-to-point race, so Jerry and I will drive on a road parallel to the race and cut over at several intersections to take pictures and cheer.

After picking up Asia's race packet, with her bib number and timing chip, we picked up Chinese food from Saigon Garden in Ann Arbor. Asia can't carb-load on pasta, so she eats rice......lots of rice. And Kung Pao chicken.

The batteries are charged in the camera, her feet are wrapped, to hopefully help prevent blisters. Next is making the "chocolate water", GU + water, pinning the bib number in place and securing the timing chip. And then resting for the evening.

The finish line is in downtown Ann Arbor, and the race coincides with the "Taste of Ann Arbor" a food fest, featuring local restaurants who sell their specialties in booths lining main street. Food, and lots of it......Asia's favorite way to end a half-marathon!

Stay tuned tomorrow for results and more pix.