Riverbank Run

Every May, Grand Rapids is host to the Riverbank Run. It's a well known race and runners come from all over the world to participate. It's called the Riverbank Run because for a part of the race, the runners are able to run next to the Grand River.
There are several races included in this. There is a 25K, 10K, 5K, wheelchair race and a 5K walk.
My daughter Laura has started running and this year she did the 10K. I had the day off, so I went to cheer her on and see her cross that finish line.

It wasn't a very nice day for the race. The temps were in the high 30's and it was raining and windy.
Here you see some of the runners coming down the street. They close a lot of streets to traffic, so it can be difficult to get to the downtown area, where the start and finish line is.

People line the route, cheering and clapping for the runners. Laura said it really made a difference to her, hearing the cheers as she ran past the bystanders.

I was standing here, near the finish line, trying to watch for Laura.

Here is the finish line, with different clocks going for the different races. You may notice there is no picture of Laura finishing the race. That's because I missed her! There were times that so many people were running in front of us, that we couldn't see all the runners. I was bummed to miss that photo op!

Here is Laura, being congratulated by her husband, Aaron. I think she did great! Her time was 59.53. The 10K had 3,623 finishers of which 2204 were women. Out of those women, Laura was #987.
She really enjoyed it, and I have a feeling there are more races in her future.