I just got the spend the morning with 5000 amazing women. My friend, Lisa, Roy and I all volunteered at Danskin Triathlon in Seattle. I decided last year that at least once a year I would volunteer at a race, and once a year I would "support" at a race (run with runners and cheer them on). Last October I did race support at Portland for 6 friends, ended up running MORE than a marathon, and having the BEST time. I did it again for the Seattle Marathon, and again had a wonderful time. So I decided to do it again. I know how much I appreciate volunteers because these things don't happen without them.

So this year I decided to volunteer for Danskin rather than DO Danskin.

As expected, it was a fantastic experience! It is just so incredible to see so many brave women out there challenging themselves in such a fashion. There were large women, small women, women still dealing with cancer, bald women, happy women, emotional women, and all of them were amazing women.

I was positioned at the start of the run portion, so I got to see people as they headed out to their last leg. I screamed myself horse, clapped my hands raw, and loved every minute of it. I think my favorite experience was the woman who hurled herself onto the course, threw her arms in the air and shouted, "Cancer isn't going to beat me" while she pumped her arms in victory. Wow. What can you say to that, except, "You GO girl!"

Some of the other amazing moments were a little smaller; the mother and daughter who were teared up as they held hands. I'd like to think they were just so thrilled to be there together and finishing this feat that they couldn't hold it in. The MANY husbands on the sidelines calling out "I love you"s to their wives. The kids jumping up and down when they saw mommy as if she was winning the gold. The shy smiles of appreciation from women who were already swim and bike weary. The last lady, being accompanied by Sally Edwards who said, "I told my friends, 'I just don't want to have to walk with Sally'" and Sally's response, "I get that a lot." You could tell they were BOTH honored to be there. It was just a really special experience.

If you've never been to an event like this, you need to go. Even if you don't volunteer, just GO and see how TRUE athletes challenge themselves to compete. There are some amazing things going on in Beijing right now, but there were even more amazing things going on in Seattle today.