Our Run with the Iron Cowboy

Monday was an exceptionally fun night for George, myself and a few friends.

Thanks to our running buddy Diane, I learned about the Iron Cowboy.  The Iron Cowboy is James Lawrence.  He is doing 50 Ironman's, in 50 days, in 50 states.  He is raising awareness about childhood obesity and you can learn more about him here.

Rhode Island was day 31 and in the town I live in. In the middle of his marathon portion, he invites the locals to do 5k with him.  Actually, he invites whoever wants to swim, bike and/or run with him at anytime during the day.  The 5k is a great opportunity to meet and run with him and ask questions.  A really great thing to do with your family.

Monday was also going to be the last day Stephanie was in town. She could only run in the morning and I did not want to miss her so I decided to run twice that day.

I met Stephanie, KB, and BRF#1 at the beach for a four mile run. It was a nice morning.  We started off and we got to see some of the Iron Cowboy crew along the wall.  We cheered for them and told them we would be back later to run with them.  They laughed and said something about getting our warm up in early.  I do wish we actually stopped and taken a picture.

After we finished the run, Steph and I grabbed coffee and sat on the wall to watch the Iron Cowboy and crew swim. It was a very cool thing to see.  We stayed for the first half of the swim and then headed home to our families. I couldn't wait to tell George I got to see him swim.  He was pretty excited to run with him later that night.

Me and Steph. My new shirt. A beautiful sunrise.  And if you look closely enough, the IC swimming.

We got to the meeting place for the 5k with plenty of time to spare.  Diane, KB and Elaine and the kids were all joining us.

We snapped a few pictures and then the Iron Cowboy talked to the crowd for a couple minutes.  They took a group picture, (which I am dying to see and have not yet). We also sang happy birthday to his wingman, Casey.  Then we ran.

The kids.

The grown-ups.

The talk.

We stayed pretty close to the IC starting out. People were talking and snapping pictures with him so we did the same.

George and Diane with IC in front.

All good!

Diane, KB, George, myself and  IC in the background.

Mastering the art of running while selfieing. It's a thing. I just made it up.

George and Lucky

George picked it up and KB ended up running with him.  Little Elaine only made it about a half mile so Elaine took her back to the parking lot but her son, Lucky still wanted to run so I stayed with him.

Remember this was not a "real" 5k.  No cops or volunteers with orange flags. We had to pay attention and stay on the right side of the road.  Lucky is new to this and only nine years old.

I had water for George but he was no where to be seen so I shared it with Lucky who was hot and a little red in the face but smiling and talking to me.

Me and Lucky

It was cool at one point when members of our running club, who were having a meeting, came out to cheer us on.

Lucky wanted to walk a little, which was fine.  He was doing so well. He did keep looking behind him, I think for his mom.  Boy was he surprised and happy to see her coming up in front of us.  She waited for KB and George to get to the finish line and then left Little Elaine with them to run back out and run her son in. It was awesome!

I was so happy to see George. He and KB had a fantastic race.  KB did not have her GPS. But based on the time I came in with Lucky and how long they think they were waiting for us, we are pretty sure they ran a sub 30 5K.  He was psyched and I am so happy for him.

We got a few pictures with the Iron Cowboy and the kids got autographs.  George left smiling and has been wearing his new hat everyday since.  So far, he has shared the story of his night with everyone he talks to. Very cool!

George getting his hat signed.

Little Elaine and Lucky getting shirts signed.

KB getting an autograph and a good laugh.

All about the kids.

I was so proud to be able to be a part of this. I love the message that the Iron Cowboy is getting out to the world and I am very proud of where I live.  I hope Iron Cowboy James enjoyed his time in RI because we certainly loved having you here.

Have you seen the Iron Cowboy?  Were you able to join him on a swim, bike or run?

I officially have my marathon plan and will tell you more about that in my next post.

Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole