Flood Run 2009

Today I participated in the first ever, "Cedar Rapids Run the Flood Race". All proceeds go to help with flood relief. Jeremy was planning on bringing Ellie down to watch mommy run and get some fresh air, unfortunately Ellie is sick :( so I went on my own. I ran with Janeen, Jessica and Megan, who are all ladies I work with at McKinley. Jeremy's cousin Josh and his girlfriend Lindsay also ran, as well as some rugby guys. I was very worried considering I have not run for over 2 months (way too sick with the pregnancy). But, I'm proud to report that I ran the entire race and felt great!

Janeen, Megan and Me before the race

Information about the race:
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009
Location: Downtown Cedar Rapids
Start Time: 9am
Start Line: 2nd Ave NE & 5th St NE
Number of Participants: 1,373 (as of today)
Oldest Participant: 80
Youngest Participant: 1
Number of Volunteers: 163 (as of today)

Beautiful Sand Castle for the event

After the race by the sandcastle (Janeen refused to get in the picture :)


Here is some background information about the flood of 2008:
Despite days of preparation and sandbagging by the entire Cedar Rapids community, on June 13, 2008, the city experienced the worst natural disaster to ever hit eastern Iowa. Fueled by a hard winter and heavy rains, the Cedar River surged through downtown Cedar Rapids until finally cresting at just over 31 feet. The water surpassed the 500-year floodplain and reached more than nine feet above flood stage level at its deepest point. Damage and destruction were widespread, as residential, commercial, industrial and government buildings were all forced under water. Over 10 square miles of the city were directly affected by floodwaters; thousands of people lost their homes.
Cedar Rapids flood statistics:·10 square miles of the city impacted by the flood·18,623 estimated persons in flood-impacted area·1,360 estimated jobs lost as a result of flood·1,800 students displaced by the flood·5,390 residential properties flooded·$2.4 billion estimated damage cost to public infrastructure and future flood management