Team Henry

Surf City 1/2 Marathon

Over the past couple months I have been working on putting a team together to run in the Surf City 1/2 Marathon in Huntington Beach.  We will run on February 5, 2012, to raise money to help with the cost of our adoption.  Charles and I are floored at the people who stepped up to run and I am so thrilled to introduce them to you, but first I want to invite you to participate in a little fun.  For $10 you can choose the racer that you think will win, the member of Team Henry that you think will have the best race time.  If your racer wins your name will go into a hat and at the after race party we will have a drawing and a prize for the winner.  So feel free to make a donation on this page by clicking on the Bring Henry Home button on the right side of the page, just be sure to include your choice in the message section.  I will update the page weekly with the number of votes for each person. 

Team Henry 2012

First there is Charles and I. I ran in this same 1/2 marathon in 2010 and as I said in an earlier post, I finished but not well. I love to run but often lack the motivation so I am so excited for Charles to do it with me this year. He is a really good running partner and has surprised me with his commitment to this race, but I will give you a hint...neither of us will have the best time:)

John and Charles have been friends since High School, he is strong and can run on no sleep for days at a time.  Watch over your shoulder for him because he'll be coming up fast when everyone else is getting tired.

I lived with Meg before she married John, Charles best friend.  Meg is my constant...she is the most consistent person I know...slow and steady.  So when everyone takes off and she falls behind don't count her out....she will still be going strong long after all the others are slowing down.

Molly is the grandmother of the group...pictured is her super cute grand daughter.  Molly is Charles sister-in-law but I lived with her before she married Charles brother.  Do you see a trend here?  She is one of my oldest friends, (hahahah) but don't let that fool you she can probably run farther than all of us at this point. We are so happy that she is joining us on our journey to adopt Henry. 

Jake is Molly's son, Charles nephew.  Don't let his smooth exterior fool you...he might be the youngest and he might be really really really good looking but he is a force to be reckoned with.

Jackie is Jake's girlfriend and she is as sweet as she is cute but that doesn't mean she can't run a quick mile.  So glad she joined us.

 

Jeff and Melissa Smith are our newlyweds.  We have known Melissa since she was 16 years old and at 17 she shocked us all when she announced that she was moving to Africa for a year.  She has determination on her side, and you know how stubborn those red heads can be. Jeff is tall and thin and feels no pain, never tires...I expect that he will be at Melissa's side for part of the time...but not for long as you can see he is our sleeper cell.  They both went with us to England two years ago and to China this past summer where we met Henry.  We are super happy to have them and so appreciate all their love and support.

Karla is my personal cheerleader when it comes to this run.  She has been so encouraging and willing to do what ever it takes to make it happen.  We have known Karla for about 5 years and every day we love her more. Her athletic ability, super long legs and abounding energy make her a favorite... if we can keep her from laughing and/or crying   
                                             she will be the one to beat.

James has been helping Charles in the Youth Group at CCLW for two years now and is truly the most grounded young man we know. He has a football background and teaches sprinting clinics so with his super sneaky and speedy skills he may just surprise us all with an ambush in the end to take it.

Lauren Collinsworth is Charles niece.  She is the other athlete that we need to all watch.  She grew up playing soccer and still runs for fun.  Don't let her fashionista exterior fool you, beneath is a competitive ruffian.  Lauren has also been first in line with her love and support when it came to Henry and we are thrilled to have her smile on our team.

Dani and Aubrey are the newcomers to the group.  We have only known them a short while through Dani's sister the infamous Jamie Bacon.  Dani is an athletic trainer and Aubrey is a soccer coach so we still are not sure what they are capable of but we are excited to see what talent and humor they can bring as we all stumble across the finish line.