When I signed up for what I thought was going to be my first half marathon I knew that I’d have a training run to complete while I was traveling to visit family in Kansas City. I began exploring the races in the local area and found out that the Big 12 Run was going to be happening the same weekend I was visiting. As an Iowa State University and University of Kansas alum I couldn't wait to sign up and immediately I began convincing my dad to run his first 5K with me. After a bit of encouragement, he agreed to run with me!

This was the first time both of us had run in over a month. For me, concussion recovery had left me sidelined in rest and recovery. I’d already came to terms with the fact that I will not be running the half marathon due to being sidelined majorly from the concussion. Since this run was my first in over a month my goal was simply to finish. It definitely wasn’t my best time, but we made it!

As we crossed the finish line the announcer was encouraging all the runners. To my dad and I they said: “there are two Cyclone fans coming in strong.”

Race Highlight: As we were about to mile one we passed Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard and his family running. It’s definitely my new favorite running highlight (and yes I took a selfie while running!). And we found him again at the finish line and took another selfie. Go Cyclones!

I plan to travel back to visit family next year on this race weekend simply because the race was incredible! While I wasn't a fan of the race t-shirt baseball t-shirts aren't flattering, I did enjoy every other aspect of this race!