"Erin, where are you?" began my day at 5:34 am, or so my cell phone displayed. "It's 6:30!" I frantically jumped out of bed, changed clothes, forced in contacts and rolled my bike out the door. The adrenaline rush kept my legs pumping quickly, even in the 45 degree weather. As I pulled into RunTex, my cell rang again; and, my running buddy was jogging past in search of me. We squeezed into the crowd at the starting line as the Burundi national anthem played. Five minutes to spare as we listened to the Star Spangled Banner. Then, the announcer started us; and the surge forward made it's way back to us until we were jogging, walking, crossing the starting line and beginning a 10 mile run through 1500 people.
Unlike our previous weekend's experience with the minimal support on the UT Cycling team's fundraising ride, we were impressed by the multiple water and Gatorade stops, the clearly signed mile markers (with LED timers), and the supportive people cheering us on. Run 4 the Water was very well sponsored (Keller Williams Realty) and staffed. Although the course was hilly in places (Exposition, Pecos and Scenic), the neighborhoods and scenery were gorgeous. We window shopped million dollar homes and reveled in the view of Lake Austin along Scenic.
Perhaps the best part of the run was finishing with a faster pace and overall time than any of our training runs!
Run 4 the Water is a yearly fundraising race by the non-profit The Gazelle Foundation used to provide clean drinking water in the African country of Burundi. Run 4 the Water 2011
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