5K Weekend

I don't know how almost a month has passed since we walked in the 5K for AbilityFirst! It was such an crazy whirlwind of a weekend. I set us up to stay at a Residence Inn not far from the Santa Anita Race Track where the event was held, so it would be an easy morning the day of the event. We had the wheelchair accessible room at the hotel, which was just lovely, and I had rented a wheelchair van, which made life so-o-o easy that weekend. (More about that later in another post.)

Kevin was a bit edgy the morning of the 5K. It was hard to get him moving. I think he was a little nervous at the thought of all of the people and negotiating his electric wheelchair among them. We got out a bit later than I had planned, so we were cutting it awfully close getting to the race track, but that's also why I had us stay where we did.

The weather that day was perfect. There were maybe 300-400 people - many in wheelchairs and walkers - all milling around in the blue AbilityFirst team shirts before the start of the race, plus all of the other 5K participants. There were 7 of us in Kevin's team, Blue Wheels, and we walked as part of the Camp Paivika team. One of the gals at AbilityFirst made us a special sign with Kevin's picture on it to carry in the walk. This was the first year that anyone other than the camp director and her family walked representing the camp. And there were two other families in the Camp team as well. We would walk together, split up and come back together off and on through the course, which was partially in the LA County Arboretum (Beautiful!). Throughout the course were AbilityFirst volunteers and staff cheering us all on. After the walk, during the AbilityFirst awards ceremony, our team won the "Small, but Mighty" Award. We were one of the smallest teams, but we raised over $11,000! Our team's total was $3440 of that amount!

We stayed afterwards to have some lunch and to watch some of the horse races, which was so much fun! And at the running of the Santa Anita Derby, which is a precursor to the Kentucky Derby, Kevin picked the Derby winner - Sidney's Candy!

The night of the 5K, when we were back at the hotel I "interviewed" Kevin for his thoughts on the 5K day. I tried not to edit his responses too much. I've put a few explanations in brackets.

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Laura: So what did you think about the race today?
Kevin: It was excellent that there were so many people there. It was nice to see Kelly and Ken and Sydney [the Camp Paivika director and her family]. I was happy that so many of my family members were walking with me. It was great to see my old Camp Joan Mier camp director, Kelly Privett.

Laura: How did you feel when we first started out, when there were so many people around?
Kevin: I guess I am also working on my electric skills. I was relaxed, but it was not good when we first started because there were so many people and little kids around. That's why I wanted Dad behind me, so he could grab hold of the chair if I had to stop fast.

Laura: When did you start to relax?
Kevin: When it opened up and we were able to spread out a little more.

Laura: How about at the Arboretum - you started to really take off on your own.
Kevin: I just followed the blue shirts. I didn't want to be in the way if there were any other electrics. I didn't want to get rear-ended by another chair - that's when somebody accidentally runs into the battery in the back. And the battery is the strongest part of the chair - if you don't tip it over. [He chuckles: heh-heh.]

Laura: Were you ever worried about tipping over?
Kevin: Nope - because my staff worked with me to not do that again after the last time I tipped in that chair. I guess you could say that I had my official team spotters.

Laura: What did you think of that peacock? [The arboretum has peacocks and geese that live on the property. One approached Kevin when we had stopped to take pictures.]
Kevin: If I moved, it would have scared it and all heck would have broken loose [heh-heh].

Laura: Did you have any trouble while we walked?
Kevin: It was one of the most easiest courses in the world.

Laura: Once we got back into the race track area - what did you think?
Kevin: The hills and the tunnels - it was honestly like the Pirates of the Caribbean. Uncle Greg was teasing me that the tunnels got smaller and darker, but it was easier to manuver because I was in control of driving the chair. If I didn't like it, I could slow down.

Laura: How did it feel when you crossed the finish line?
Kevin: Good. It was very nice - thrilling. It was good, people were cheering me on.

Laura: What did you like about that?
Kevin: They had horns and flags and pom poms. They were saying things like "Go, Kevin" and "Good job!" They were shaking my hands and doing high-fives, but it's hard for me to do high-five when I'm driving because I can only use one hand. It was a little hard once we crossed the finish line. [There were a lot of people stopping to get free drinks and snack bars.] I didn't like the crowd because I had to slow down.

Laura: What about when we got the medals?
Kevin: That was excellent, emotional a little bit. I was proud of myself. I want to get this all on DVD so I can show my workshop. They are partly responsible for me doing so well. My family and your friends were a big help, too.

Laura: So you were really proud of yourself?
Kevin: Yes, I was. Special people can do anything that they want to do. And let's face it, I run the risk of next year not going to camp if I didn't do this.

Laura: Why did you want to do this?
Kevin: Because it's basically fun. And it was easy because we had the wheelchair van for the weekend to get me over there.

Laura: Will you do this again?
Kevin: Yeah. I would. I think that personally I could have handled the other course, because my chair goes fast down hills, but when you go uphill, it controls it automatically.

Laura: Would you encourage others to do this?
Kevin: Yes. I would. Because it will help other families go to camp and it will make them feel good.

Laura: How would you describe the day?
Kevin: Nervewracking, tiring in a good way, and exciting [with a nod of the head and a big smile].