runnin' for the river

sunday morning saw me and the bean up bright and early to take part in a fun run benefiting the cleanup and revitalization of the l.a. river.  i was signed up for the 5K, with the bean set to run the free kids' 1K with mini cee.  after dropping off the bean with lilcee (since the kids' run didn't start until an hour after the 5K), i headed out to los feliz.

parking was a bitch.  i ended up finding a spot on a sidestreet a couple of blocks away, and made sure to take pictures of the street and a screenshot of my exact location on the map.  i'm terrible with directions, so i have to make it as easy as possible for myself.

this run also marked the debut of my awesome new team superhero singlet:

with only about ten minutes till the beginning of the run, i followed the crowds to the start line - which was about half a mile away.

can you see me?  right in the middle, fussing with my phone - as usual.

it was a pretty easy course, with the first bit on a lovely downhill.  before i knew it, i was here:

the lovely l.a. river.  also known as where the big race took place in "grease."

it's decorated with lots of ...colorful urban artwork.

these guys were placed about halfway down, but you could hear them throughout the whole 3.1 mile course.

this is always a welcome sight when i'm on a 5K.

but first, i had to cross this bridge.

too bad this one is so blurry - but you can still tell it's me.

there are some pretty solid poles placed at the end of the bridge, so as you approach them you see this:

yay for the finish!

i made my way out of the river area and back up to meet up with the bean, who was pretty easy to spot as she chased bubbles with mini cee.

lilcee had picked up the girls' bibs, so we pinned them on and headed over to join the others who were doing some warm-up stretching.

just before the start.

as soon as she got the green light, this kid took OFF.  i was still pooped from my own run and had trouble keeping up.

i tweeted this one to asics and told them i'd found their newest spokesperson.

like the 5K, the kids got to run over the bridge for the big finish.

and then she was done.

before heading up to claim their finisher's medals, the girls decided to head down to the river to check it out.  you can see how thrilled she was when i whipped out the phone to take a picture.

then she was off like a shot again, sprinting up the hill and out towards the "other" finish line.

mini cee was a little less than pleased to be left behind, but perked up as she heard the cheers at the finish line and spotted her medal waiting for her.

we capped off the morning with breakfast at nearby porto's bakery.  good times, good times indeed.