What Made the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon So Special...

My dad has been a major inspiration in my running. Years ago, before a wife and children, my dad used to run 5 miles a day. As I was growing up, he often talked about when he used to run. So in college when I began running, my goal was to be able to run 5 miles just like my dad was able to.

I began running, and while it was a long journey, I eventually made it to 5 miles. It was a sweet thought thinking about how I would have been able to keep up with my dad's distance had we been able to run together back in the day.

My dad began running again about a year ago, building back up to his 5 miles a day. When we were vacationing in Hawaii, my dad, my husband and I went for a run. I mentioned to my dad that we should run a half marathon together and he instantly agreed. I mentioned how the Rock 'N' Roll series in Dallas was supposed to be a fun race with a good course, lots of crowd support, and live bands along the route.

We signed up for the RNR shortly after Hawaii and dedicated months to all of the training and preparation that goes along with such an event.

Finally, the race weekend arrived!

We strolled down the red carpet to pick up our packets at the expo. 

Then the night before the race, we prepared and gathered all of our race-day gear, including putting our bibs on our shirts to save time.

5:00am came quickly, but the family was up and at 'em to get ready to catch the DART to transport us down to Fair Park, to the starting line.

My family took their first DART ride, and they looked so cute I just had to take a picture to remember the historical moment.

We lined up in our designated corral soon after we arrived. 

We were slightly nervous about the race being so big, but once the race began the atmosphere was so fun and relaxed that we forgot about the thousands of people who were running around us.

The race seemed to fly by! Especially when you're having so much fun you're able to dance while running. If that's not talent, I don't know what is.

Dad and I talked most of the last mile, which was nice. We'd both been listening to our music up until then, but the last mile we shared motivations, scriptures, and the poem "If" which unfortunately made the last mile go by too quickly. But made the race even more special.

The finish line came too soon, but it was joyous!

We basked in the half marathon endorphins for the rest of the day with the rest of the family! Please note how my mom, sister, brother and husband all wore the most thoughtful shirts created with love by my mom, to show their support for us. Which were also orange for Multiple Sclerosis Awareness month :)

It was such a wonderful day, filled with celebrations and love! We're already planning our next half together -- this time we'll take it back to Hawaii!