Included in the MANY events and festivities for Lobsterfest Weekend in Placencia is the Edlin Leslie Sr. Battle Cancer 5 mile run/walk. The event benefits the BlissfulSage Foundation whose mission is to provide quality, dignified care for terminally ill patients in Southern Belize.
The event unofficially kicks off the weekend of partying and indulging (although really the runners/walkers didn’t seem to be the crazy partier types).
And for a personal confession- I for one feel entitled to indulge in copious amounts of lobster and rum now that I’ve completed my run.
We registered Thursday afternoon at Tipsy Tuna and paid $40 BZD each to participate.
We woke up ridiculously early Friday morning because we had to meet the bus at 5am which would take all of the Placencia participants 5 miles up the Peninsula to the starting line in Seine Bight. It was pouring rain at 4:15 and we nearly went back to bed but fortunately the rain stopped by 4:45. We dropped Mitch off with our friend Jamie and then we scurried over to MnM Hardware to catch the bus up to Seine Bight.
Once we arrived in Seine Bight, we lined up with the rest of the runners that included our friend Steve (owner of One World Rentals here in the village) and runners of various ages, some of them barefoot.
Now I’ll be honest- if this had been a 5k instead of 5 miles a BUNCH of these kids would have beaten us.
But as it was we came in ahead of most of the pack but WELL behind Steve, who easily cruised to victory.
Special thanks to Steve’s wife, Jamie, who watched the little guys while we ran. An hour break from Mitch, even if it was spent running 5 miles, was a welcome reprieve.
Medals, swag bags and breakfast were provided at the finish line at Tipsy Tuna.
A fun way to start the day to support a worthy cause!
