A Race for Ramie

I recently ran in a special 5K race.  It was called The Ramie Harris 5K and took place over Homecoming weekend at Wheaton College.

Ramie Harris was a junior psychology major at Wheaton.  On the morning of November 26, her life came to a tragic end at the age of 21.  She was killed in a small plane crash along with her father, younger sister, and a friend.

The Ramie Harris 5K was planned by Ramie's class members, now seniors.  Over 350 runners turned out- the largest group to run a Wheaton sanctioned race... And all this despite freezing cold temperatures.

All of the runners congregated in the Edman Plaza at 7:45am and all participating sported purple wristbands imprinted with the words "Ramie's Run".  Purple was Ramie's favorite color.  When the race was completed, purple balloons were released in the sky, followed by a brief moment of silence.

It was one of the most meaningful races I've run.  I was blessed to be a part of it.

The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Hubs and I recently visited Kuiper's Pumpkin Farm with Jesse's brother's family.

If you're ever in the area during harvest time, you should visit Kuiper's... It's quite a place.  They have a huge corn maze, cornboxes (like sandboxes, but with corn kernels), a jumping pillow, petting zoo, hay rides, a gourd store, a pick-your-own pumpkin patch, a truly scary Halloween walking path, and most importantly- an onsite restaurant serving cider slushies (delicious).

In my opinion, even if you don't have kids, Kuiper's is still fun.  I would just warn the child-less that you have to be prepared for hundreds of kids running truly amuck.  {Side note- I actually saw one especially naughty little guy wandering solo around the pumpkin patch, smashing pumpkins on the ground.  Um, hello...}

Kuiper's also has a pick-it-yourself apple orchard, but we didn't make it to that part of the farm... The place is large!

You need to check out Kuiper's Pumpkin Farm for yourself, but until you do, enjoy these pics:

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