4 Sisters Relay Race!

We woke up bright and early (4:30 AM!) for race morning!!! The race start time was 6:30 AM, and Kelli was the first leg. Kristen and Kim (who spent the night at Kristen's house) came over to Kelli's at 5 am for the sister picture before Kelli headed off to the start.

Kelli was telling us about her hilarious dream that she showed up at the starting line all dressed and ready to go...except she was still wearing her flip flops!
Kim and Kristen showed up in matching hoodies too! :)
(this picture says it all - Kim, VERY eager and VERY excited....Kristen, still slightly embarrassed about the whole situation...and anxious to get some coffee in her).

Here we are! And the white visors weren't even planned! :)

The backs of cour shirts...this was a funny picture to pose for, let me tell you!A sleepy baby....he didn't have a good night sleep...probably because the whole Schrodt family had taken over his room and he had to sleep in the pack & play. Poor little guy.

They don't look sleepy, do they?

We walked down to the end of Kelli's street to see her pass at Mile 2.5. The great thing about this race is that it LITERALLY passes in front of her house. It's so close by - made it VERY convenient!!

Here's Kim waiting at Mile 7.5 - where Kelli would finish and Kim would start. She was cold and QUITE nervous. She's a brand new runner - just ran her first 5K a few weeks before. But she's heard us talking about running for years, and her husband has run a marathon a few years ago. So she's learning!

Spectators were in full cheer mode - signs, noisemakers, and cowbells!!

Scott (with his cup o' Joe) & Baby Joe

Kim, nervously checking her watch....

Here comes Sister Two! Finishing the first leg of the race...and looking strong!!!

There goes Sister One (Kim) with her fist pumped up in the air!!! Good luck Kim!

As soon as you finished your leg of the race, you got your medal!

Way to go Sister Two!

While we waited for Kim at Mile 14, Dad played "find the noisemaker" in this huge empty field right by the transition point. It was perfect! :) Kelli and I fed our babies while they played (and while Kim ran!)

This was the mat that we had to cross over in order for the next person of our team to start.

One quick trip to the port-o-potty before I start my leg of the race (7 miles).

Scott and Joseph

Dad and Callie (she had been a BEAR the day before and attached at the hip....so everyone was a little worried about how she would do on race day. She did GREAT though. Whew!)

See the person in a shepherd costume on the left? They were advertising a christmas pageant at that church that night! Hilarious to see a shepherd cheering on runners!

Here comes Kim!!! (far left in the picture...next to the sidewalk)

There goes Sister Three (Katy)! Once I started running, I realized I was already tired! It was 9 am, I had been up since 4 am, and had been busy running around after my kids all morning - and it was hot! Of course the Florida girls were fine, but I was hot! So my time was a little slow...

Sister One finished her leg of the race!!!

Kristen, waiting at our transition point, for her to complete the last leg of the race.

Here comes Sister Three!!!

Cross over the mat Katy!

Go Sister Four! Bring it home for the 4 Sisters! :)

While Kristen ran her leg, we hung out at this great little playground across the street from the finish. It was perfect for the kids. Here's Josiah and Chris (Kristen's fiance) just chillin!

Scott & Joseph taking a nap

Josiah working on some art designs.

Jacob...eating some snacks...I had packed LOTS of snacks to get them through the LONG morning.

Dad, Kim, & Kelli talking about their legs of the race.

After the race, we were interviewed by the Palm Beach Post!! And we made it into the online version AND the print version the next day. Page 10C - which is the sports section! Can you believe my 3 sisters and I were in the sports section of the newspaper? me either! :)

Me and my 4 sweet kids...some of whom look less sweet than others in this picture!

Kristen, Rita, Caleb, and Dad

Enjoying our post-race food!! Hotdogs, chocolate milk, bagels, yogurt, bananas - yum!!! Everything tastes SO good at the end of a race!

The Roads family

Kristen, Chris, and Kim

4 Sisters Relay Team

It was SO much fun! All of it (except for the heat for me...). We loved wearing our matching shirts - when I started running, one of the other runners said "where's sister one and two?" I said "they ran the first two legs, and I'm meeting sister 4 at Mile 21!" It was so fun! We saw several runners at the end (we all ran the very last .5 mile together) that said "we ran with the whole family today!" - they saw each of us at different points in the race. It was SO cool! Who would have ever thought the four of US would run in a marathon together? Awesome!!