Day 176: Diane Geppi-Aikens 5K

Hi Everyone! Olivia here.

Nicole and I pre-race.

Diane Geppi-Aikens was a Loyola Grad, Coach, and wonderful supporter who passed away from breast cancer in 2003. She was a dedicated coach who instilled strong values in her girls lacrosse team. In memory of her, my suitemate Nicole and I ran in the 9th Annual Diane Geppi-Aikens Memorial 5K Run, where the proceeds benefitted "The Aikens Children Trust Fund". There were about a thousand participants in total. Some of the runners wore pink sweatpants to remember Diane. It was said by her daughter that Diane had an odd sense of fashion, often wearing these "obnoxious pink sweatpants that she wore tucked into cowboy boots sometimes". She seemed like such a great member of the Loyola Community. I learned that even when she got sick and had to coach in a wheelchair she kept the team motivated and cheered them on with all her might. Diane didn't want people want to feel bad for her; she got to go home every night and spend quality time with her family, and didn't take anything for granted. Nicole and I arrived this morning for

Post race--Exhausted!!

the 8:30am race start (top right picture) and were so surprised by the turnout. One of Diane's former players spoke of her experience with Diane as her coach and told us what a meaningful person she was to the team.

Kim, Me, Nicole

To the left is us after the finish. Unfortuately we started out too fast, but we met a lot of members on Loyola sports teams, including the curling team! The curling guys were very nice and invited us to see one of their matches in the future, which would definitely be cool to see. We also met Otis, a chocolate lab who was running with his owner who lived nearby. Otis kept us motivated and without him we probably would have gone a lot slower!! This final picture is of our friend Kim who lives on our floor; she had a great time as well! We were all so glad we were able to support Diane's family and we look forward to running in the race again next year.

Alright, it's homework time!!

-Olivia (and Nicole)