#Andreas40thBdayRun Recap

A few months back, Andrea announced she wanted to host a virtual run for her birthday. She'd be turning 40, so a 4.0 mile run (walk or even Gibbler Gallop) would work out perfectly! Not only did she want to encourage everyone to get active, she was going to use her birthday to DO GOOD and donate the proceeds of the event to Girls on the Run... Um, can you say AWESOMESAUCE?! Obviously Ryan and I had to be a part of it so signed up once registration opened.

Your $40 registration fee got you AWESOME bling, a super cute
tee, a signed headshot from Andrea and the ability to be a part of
something bigger than yourself and give back to others!

When Andrea mentioned she was going to be putting together a low-key in-person event and wanted us to be a part of it, we had to make it happen! Ryan and I decided to make a little trip out of it, heading up Saturday afternoon so he could do a little bouldering at Stoney Point Park before heading towards the hotel we got for the evening.

Since he normally comes along on my running adventures and
plays photographer for me, I decided I'd do the same for him
on this climbing exploration.

Part Rugged Woodsman and part monkey!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then checked in to our room. Ryan showered and I decided to look for nearby desserts. I came across CoolHaus on Yelp and once I showed Ry the ice cream sandwiches they offered he was all in! I ended up ordering the Blue Hawaiian ice cream on a Fruity Pebble "cookie" and Ryan got the Fast Food ice cream (complete with french fries) on one Chocolate Chip and one Junk Food cookie (complete with potato chip crumbs).

The ONLY way to fuel for #Andreas40thBdayRun

After chowing down on our delish treats, it was back to the hotel to get our gear ready for the following morning. Even though it wasn't a race, you know we had to make sure our #FlatMcDots were ready for the adventure! And obviously the only socks to rock for the run would be #TheGibblers - DUH!

You know me, always gotta be prepared, so I set my multiple alarms and hit the hay. (We were staying in Culver City and the run was going to take place at the Santa Monica Pier which was about 20 minutes away. We figured we should probably leave the hotel by 6:45am to make it there and find parking before the run started at 7:15.)

We made it over to the Original Muscle Beach and found parking nearby with zero issues. It was funny to watch the crew start to arrive because there were so many of #TheGibblers that we were easy to spot (and PRO Compression was AMAZING enough to supply socks to folks who didn't have them already).

GIBBLERS UNITE! Photo Credit: @PavementRunner 

Photo Credit: @IvieAnne 

Once everyone arrived, we got down to business. It was going to be a super casual, informal run down the beach for two miles, then spin back around to where we started. You could run, walk or even cartwheel down the bike path - the only requirement was to have a BLAST (oh yeah, and maybe to stay out of the way of the other folks using the path).

Obviously the entire hashtag wouldn't fit in my watch, but I still LOVE it!

A good time was had by all, running, laughing and lollygagging along the boardwalk! The hubby and I normally try and get at least 4 miles in on #SundayRunday, so it was PERFECT (and Ry even mentioned how he almost forgot that he was running because he was chatting it up and having a grand ol' time!)!

Photo Credit: @PointOneMiles - the ROCKSTAR who helped put this shindig together!

I don't know... Ryan put his arm up and I thought he was making a muscle...

Photo Credit: @PointOneMiles - the ROCKSTAR who helped put this shindig together!

One of the faster #SundayRundays with the hubby and he didn't even complain!

Andrea was a ROCKSTAR and tried to run with all of the different 'pace groups' (as she called them) and socialize amongst everyone (which is hard to do, especially while running) - but when we saw her coming back in we ran over to make a love tunnel and cheer her home.

Once everyone made their way back, we celebrated in the best way possible - with BLING! Andrea congratulated us all individually and put our medals around our neck's. How sweet, especially since it was HER birthday!

Isn't she purrrrrrty?! 

After everyone got their bling, we hung out a bit and took pictures before heading over to Starbucks to rehydrate ;)

Me and the birthday girl!

A McDot sandwich ;)

Ha, and check it out... Some of the shots (including the group shot) made it into an E News article... That sort of means I'm famous, right?! ;)

It was funny to hear all of the comments as we ran and then all walked around. I even heard a couple chatting and one of them said "It must be a parade". Well, shoot doggy, we are one of the bestest parades around town if you ask me ;)

THIS CREW! Can't even put into words... We chat daily and they are the
absolute BEST (even if we were missing the E of our CHAP*L)

PS I don't know if any of you know Ken, the man behind Superhero Events and the Free Hugs Project, but he was awesome enough to not only come out and run with us (he is a GREAT GUY), but to also make a little video of the morning's events! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

Since Ryan and I had to head back to the hotel to shower before checking out, when everyone else made their way to Lulu after caffeinating up, we decided to split and go get cleaned up. We ended up hanging out around LA for the afternoon since we were heading to La Habra for Andrea's birthday dinner later that evening. We did a bit of shopping window shopping and chillaxin' before having a FAN-FREAKIN'-TASTIC evening with friends!

Not only could you get a print off one of your photos, but you could get a duplicate to put in the photo album as a keepsake for the birthday girl...
WHAT A FABULOUS IDEA!

It was an honor to get to spend the day celebrating an AMAZING woman! Oh yeah, and overall, the virtual run was able to raise over $7,000 for Girls on the Run! It was a win-win-WIN!

Have you ever signed up for a virtual run before?