Running for a Cause in the Super Tiny Town of Columbia

Columbia is a really, really, really small town.

I've always thought so. I used to think it was a small town in the sense that there was never anything to do here {which is completely untrue these days}, but now I think it's a small town in the sense that everybody is connected to everybody.

Dig deep enough, you're going to find a connection. More often than not, you don't actually have to dig that deep through the layers of friends and acquaintances to find someone that you've got in common. This weirdly small world thing comes in to play frequently where I work, and it recently brought me back in touch with someone that I grew up with.

How's this for a #throwbackthursday picture?

That tiny little girl in the back of the picture, eagerly unwrapping a present, is yours truly at her third birthday party way back when. In the picture with me you've got my brother and a few of our neighbors... who I'm pretty sure had better things to do that day than be at a third birthday party. Anyway. The point of that picture today is it's the only one that I {ok, my mom did the digging through old pictures for me} could find that has Emily and me.

A couple months ago at work, I was assigned to write a piece for the fall Fig Columbia magazine about Palmetto Health Foundation, the Walk for Life / Famously Hot Pink Half Marathon, and a breast cancer survivor. As it turned out, the breast cancer survivor that was to be featured was none other than Emily.

Y'all.

We grew up in houses that backed up to one another. Emily babysat both me and my brother. Her dad helped me hone my soccer skills in the backyard. Her parents attend church these days at the same church as my parents. Her aunt, uncle, and two cousins have been friends of my family since I was 18 months old. We run into her oldest brother and his family here and there on Kiawah. We run into her younger brother and his wife down on Kiawah, too. Emily's sister-in-law's sister {did you follow that?} is the interior designer that helped my parents with their house in Columbia and down at the beach and is helping me with my house.

SMALL WORLD.

It was so nice to be able to meet with Emily to interview her for the story, and to catch up. The time flew by and at the end, I was a little annoyed with myself for scheduling it before work instead of after work when we would have had more time to talk. We chatted about her history with breast cancer {she's a survivor - yay!} and the Palmetto Health Foundation Walk for Life and Famously Hot Pink Half Marathon, 5K + 10K.

Running either the 5K or the 10K race was already on my list of races this year since it fell on a Saturday where Clemson didn't have a game and where USC's game was away. Plus, y'all know how much I love when a race ends on a sports field of some type and how much I love the Fireflies. This race ends right in the middle of the Fireflies stadium! But after talking with Emily, it became my top priority for races in October. I am so excited for this race and to come together with this community to raise money for the Palmetto Health Breast Center. All funds raised by this race stay right here in Columbia. That's right. All of the funds.

I've signed up to run the 10K on Emily's team, Emily's Breast Friends, and I've got a goal of raising $250 before the race date on October 14. Want to help a girl help her community out? You can donate here.

You can read the final piece that I wrote for Fig here and you can see it in the magazine here. Seriously, take a look at it in the magazine because that particular spread might have been one of my favorites of this past issue {I might be a tiny bit biased...}

Happy Thursday, y'all!