Tommy's Team - Race Day!

Today was race day for the three of us representing Tommy's Team in the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago's 5k  Montrose Harbor race. You can check out Erin's account of the Wheaton race from last weekend here, where they had a much larger delegation!

I wanted to take a moment and share some of our day and THANK EVERYONE who supported Tommy's Team over the past few months. As a team, we raised over $3500.00!! Being at the race and seeing some of the amazing work and programing that the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago supports/creates was truly and awesome experience.  I was amazed and inspired to see the large delegation of kids and teens who are part of the foundations young person's group, a group that helps unite young people with Epilepsy to provide social opportunities for them to share.  As someone who loves Tommy very much, I'm so happy to know he will have the support of this group as he grows up!

Due to the NATO summit in Chicago this weekend, many roads were closed and there were protestors slowing public transit in some areas, so our day began early.  Leslie joined us from Milwaukee and had a slumber party at my house the night before...she was rather unconvinced that 6am was the appropriate hour to wake up and walk for a seizure free future.

But don't let the sleepy facade fool you! Not long after, she was bright eyed and ready to brave the NATO protestors the news told us to expect on the CTA. Luckily, there were no protestors. Although that would have made a better story.

We then met up with Laura, and headed off to the race grounds!

 We had enough time before the race to pose for a, aheam, beaver shot,
and to give some pre-race high-fives.

The numbers were low at the race due to the NATO situation, but everyone there was awesome! We walked at a nice, leisurely pace and finished feeling great!

After the race, we walked one more mile and treated ourselves to brunch at Inspiration Kitchens, which we found by googling brunch locations near the finish line. Turns out, it's AWESOME. Not only did we have an amazing brunch that was super inexpensive, it was some of the best service I've had at a restaurant ever! Take a minute and check out their 'about us' and see what they are doing to help those Chicagoans hardest hit by homelessness and poverty. Way to go, Google! Great find!

Again- THANK YOU to everyone who blogged, tweeted and/or donated to Tommy's Team. I'm proud to be part of an event that is directly supporting kids and families like Tommy and his family here in the Chicago area.