Today was a spectacular morning. Not only is it my son’s 8th birthday, but it was the Inaugural John Liquori Memorial 5K. Sadly, John Liquori, a 20 year old young man, was struck my a drunk driver while running at 2:00 in the afternoon last July. He died in the hospital. I didn’t know John, but I remember the day the accident happened. I was driving to St. Therese to pick up my kids from camp and a section of Rte 17 was closed off. I knew that wasn’t good. I didn’t see what happened, but learned later that a runner was struck.
John was a great looking guy. Was loved by so many people, and his friends and family put together this event to help raise money for the organizations and interests that John cared so much about. To learn more about this Foundation visit www.doitforjohn.com. I’d say there were about 500 runners and walkers at the event today. The sun was out, the sky was blue and it was a wonderful morning.
My friend Adrienne was running her first 5K. I met up with her and her trainer, her sister-in-law and some friends from her gym. I was excited for Adrienne. Last night I hadn’t even registered for the race yet. When I tried to register online it said the registration was closed so I knew I had to register at the race. We had my son and husband’s family birthday party Saturday night and then we had a fire and stayed up late watching our favorite TV show, America’s Got Talent, so I knew I had to set my alarm for at least 7 a.m. so I could get there in time to register. I didn’t know how large of an event it would be. I actually woke up this morning before the alarm even went off. That was good because I was afraid that I was going to wake up my husband and then he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. I am also pleased that I woke up on my own on the weekend because I need to start coordinating my training plan for my upcoming Marine Corp Marathon and the Philadelphia Marathon which will require some early morning weekend long runs to avoid the summer heat.
We haven’t had the chance to run together yet so this was our first time! I ran with her for the first mile without doing my intervals, and then told her that at mile 1 I was going to start doing my intervals. I didn’t set my watch ahead of the race, so it was stuck at the 30/30 setting. It felt great to run the entire mile without stopping. They were keeping a great pace of around 10:30 per mile. I would have continued with them, but I haven’t trained that way and didn’t want to cause injury considering what I have been going through with my back lately. They were never out of my sights and in the end I think I finished only 30 seconds behind them. The course was very flat and it was a great race for her first 5K!
The end of the race ended at the track and I saw Adrienne and her gang just ahead of me and was going to take a picture for her; but decided to just finish the race. She trained well for this race and I am so proud of her! I am looking forward to running more races with her! We are talking about the Branford Road Race in 2 weeks.
Way to go Adrienne! I enabled another Mother to Run!
It was great to run for a cause. Sad that this cause was so close to home. His mother and many family members were at the race; but the town supported them and came together today to remember John and to support his family and friends. Life is short, it can change in an instant. In the past year or two I have had the mentality to make the most of every day; especially in the lives of my kids. Yes the accident happened while he was running, but accidents can happen anywhere. He was struck by a drunk driver. He could have been struck by a distracted driver. Yes, I am more aware now when I am out walking and running and make it a point that I am seen by driver and that I can see the driver as well.
