in memory of Gwen, a little midnight madness, in pink

I had first noticed the event at least a month ago.
"Glow The Mall Pink Midnight Madness 5K", listed in the upcoming announcements.
A midnight fundraising race?
That sounded like it was meant for me, right?
Especially as I don't even glance at upcoming announcements in the paper, as a rule.
So I checked out the website.
Major coolness! Funds would be raised for breast cancer research!
Also, the race was billed as "beginner", with walkers, joggers, and even folks pushing strollers welcomed with open arms.
Definitely my speed!
I started filling out the registration...
than put it aside.
Then, this past Tuesday, I mentioned it to Kevin while we were dining.
He's in training for the upcoming marathon in November.
He encouraged me to register, but didn't push it.
Good man.
I did "like" the facebook page of the event...but didn't register.
On Thursday, the newspaper's stand-alone entertainment section had a big story about it.
This would be the inaugural event for this race in Savannah.
I liked the idea of being in on this in its first year...but still didn't register.
Then, late Friday night, tooling around on the web, I decided to go for it!
But the online registration was closed.
However, there would be the opportunity from 10 AM to 2 PM on Saturday to do so...
and so I did.
I was even there at 10 AM, to be one of the first.

Last night, I arrived at 11:30 PM to the Oglethorpe Mall.
Pink was everywhere!
Right place, right time.
The DJ was playing some good tunes, to get the crowd moving...
so I danced, as a little warm-up.
(Hey, it was already quite chilly and heading for the low 40's. Brrr!
And yet, I was there. Clad in long pants, pink socks, "Morgan's galaxy" tennis shoes, with my race shirt over my long-sleeved American Red Cross VIP Lifesaver shirt. Fuzzy pink socks with polka dots covered my hands cozily!)
Then, it was time to assemble at the starting line.
I went ahead and went to the front of the pack.
And who was beside me?

Deadpool.
I kid you not.
You know
what a
serious crush
I have on him...
I even shared him
with my first niece...
and she loves him, too!


Right place, right time.
Seriously.
Then, during my mile-eating walk, I paused briefly twice.
The first time, the cape had blown off an older superwoman, unbeknownst to her.
I had paused, bent, scooped it up, and had it waiting on my arm when she circled back for it.
She was so glad I had saved it!
Then, moments later, a coppery glint caught my eye!
I paused to retrieve the smashed penny, barely discernible as being face-up.
"Don't pick it up if its face-down, that's bad luck," someone shouted.
"It's a message from my mother," I replied, scooping it up and into my pocket.
Superwoman, behind me now, found another penny!
"A message from my mother, too," she said.
Right place, right time, for both of us.
In retrospect, the penny could have been from Gwen and David. I had a very distinct image of them when I was on my way to the BYOP party in Georgetown. Or perhaps it was placed there for me by Mother Pat.
The penny, with its front and back images nearly obliterated from car traffic, may have been a joint effort from all of them.
Right place, right time - not a simple coincidence.

I finished
the 5K,
or 3-mile,
course with
a time of
33:32 minutes.
That garnered me a 3rd Place medal for my age group!!!
Pretty good for my first-ever race!
(smile)