I enrolled in a couch to 5k program known as Running 101 at Up & Running (Dayton, Ohio) in 2008.  I was dealing with the stress of my aging mother's pending death.  My 5 siblings and I kept my mom in her own home for 9 years as she progressed with Alzheimer’s.  We had just moved her into a nursing home and knew it was best for all, but still carried some guilt. I did not want to take more drugs (I was taking a low dose happy pill, daily inhaler for asthma, and other allergy meds) and I believed exercise would help. I did lose my mom that year, but know those Tuesday and Saturday runs carried me through that very difficult time.

I was a Running 101 participant 3 times and a 'coach' 3 times.  About this time, the Fab five (more  'fun runners’) talked me into running a 10k. We followed a 10 week plan, added an extra day of running each week, showed up at our first EXPO to get our packets and were insulted to find that we only earned cotton t-shirts  --  the half-ers and marathoners would get a tech shirt we believed we worked just as long and hard as the real runners.  Thrilled with our success at the prestigious USAF event, we knew that next year,  we too would get tech shirts. It's all about the bling!