The Mississippi 50

This morning Kyle, Poppy, and our friend Shannon ran in the annual Mississippi 50 Trail Run. It was through the Desoto National Forest. Runners have the option of running a 20K, a 50K, or 50 mile race. Our men ran the 20K, which is about 12.5 miles! This was no ordinary road race. These people had to run trails, through mud, hills, and water. They said they had to wade through water up to their thighs a couple of times! Can you say INSANE!! Not to mention the torrential rains that occurred today. Not even thunderstorms stopped these people. I'm tired just thinking about it!

We woke up this morning, loaded up the car in all our rain gear, and headed out to support our men. Actually Collin was dressed and ready about an hour early. He was so excited to be out playing in the puddles this morning.

It rained off and on all morning, but we couldn't bear the thought of them crossing the finish line without us being there. We arrived only about 10 minutes before Kyle finished. We weren't expecting him so soon!

Kyle finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes, about 10 minutes under his goal!

He was in great spirits and good condition at the end.

With the exception of some minor cramping, he felt great!

Collin stayed with the umbrella while we waited for Poppy to finish.

Just a few minutes later we saw him coming...

His time was 2 hours and 10 minutes!

(Notice the clock says 4 hours, but it was actually set for the marathon runners

who started earlier in the morning.)

I cannot tell you how relieved and proud we were that they finished so strong and didn't get injured.

It was dangerous out there!

Post-race discussion ;)

A little later Mr. Shannon arrived!

Collin and Poppa had the best seat of all - ha

Trying to stay dry.

Brantlee tried to fight the wet elements on a Saturday morning as best as she could. I'm a little sore from hauling her around. This kind of thing wasn't really her style if you know what I mean. But I've said it before and I'll say it again- these kiddos are troopers.

Naturally, the day wasn't all fun and smiles. Shortly after this, Mr. Shannon started feeling really, really bad. We thought his sugar just dropped, but he ended up needing an IV!  He is doing much better now. Meanwhile, mom and I headed home with the kids, and we sort of took a wrong turn. Let's just say we if it weren't for mom's GPS on her phone, we might still be lost in the middle of nowhere in the rain. That was NOT the highlight of the day :/