5K Leapin' Leapers for the Arts

Maiya's 5th 5K in 5 years... here we are at the LA Marathon 5K at Dodger Stadium last Saturday morning.  Ten of us walked the 5K as a fundraiser for Great Leap.  You can't help but notice our beautiful green "Leapin' Leapers for the Arts" t-shirts.  Our youngest was Maiya at 5, and our oldest was Beatrice at 78, who actually came in 1st place our of 3 in her age group (women from 75-79).

Bea, Jo, Donna, Mike & Maiya in our new t-shirts

Maiya, Nobuko, Luke & Corazon marching in Elysian Park

Maiya and Auntie Nobuko walking backwards uphill.

Group shot of the 10 of us

Me & Maiya holding our medals at the finish line 1:13!

Afterwards, met Mamie (101 yrs old) & Clara at Empress for dim sum 

in Chinatown, our GL post marathon tradition

As I mentioned above, this was Maiya's 5th 5K, but actually it was her 2nd one to walk the entire 5K.  And she did fantastic.  Because she's older now, she can handle the walking--no more strollers.  She held my hand for the beginning of the walk, but also ran around with Luke, Corazon & Auntie Nobuko.  We enjoyed the pretty hills of Elysian Park, although I missed the grittiness of walking through downtown LA and the garment district.  Actually, about 3/4 of the way through the walk, Maiya was jumping around, fell and got a bloody arm and scraped up hand, so I carried her for about a minute while she cried.  After some comforting, she walked the rest of the way, stopping to rest a few times. 

5K Times with Maiya over the years:

2007 - 1:41 (Placed 2237 out of 2240) 

2008 - 1:15 (Placed 1897 out of 2137)

2010 - 1:13 (Placed 1781 out of 1867)

We are still tallying up the pledges, but I think Kuida-Osumi raised around $1,500.  

The impact of these generous donations for Great Leap is IMMEDIATE. 

Next year, we hope you'll join the Leapin' Leapers for the Arts.

Tony Does 26.2 for Great Leap!

Big Congrats to Tony for finishing his first LA Marathon in 7:11!  He's been walking for almost a year now, and he had decided a month ago to walk the marathon to help raise money for Great Leap.  I think he'll write about his experience walking through what he called "colonial LA." We left the house at 5:30 am to drop Tony off at Dodger Stadium.  Maiya and I went to breakfast and gorged ourselves, went home, did laundry and hung out.  

Then about 1pm, Nobuko came over and we drove to Santa Monica.  It took about an hour to get there, but mostly to drive a few blocks just to park the car.  We made our way through the traffic of people waiting for friends and family members, went down to the beach party, which was just about over.   

Then back upstairs back to meet Corazon, Great Leap's manager who ran the marathon, too!  Corazon had been training so we were so proud and excited to see her!

Others who registered under Great Leap were the amazing Lisa Okamoto, Sharon Yamato, and Don Johnson (who we don't actually know).

Another hour in traffic getting out of Santa Monica.  Whew.  For dinner, Tony ordered Johnnie's Pastrami and onion rings, and I split a chili-cheese fries with Maiya.  Shortly after, Tony fell asleep and was out for the night.  We're so proud of him!

Distance	MAR
Clock Time	07:29:18
Chip Time	07:10:59
Overall Place	20379 / 22538
Gender Place	12387 / 13339
Division Place	1485 / 1556
Age Grade	30.2%
Pace	16:26.6
5K	0:46:21
10K	1:38:03
15K	2:25:03
20K	3:15:25
25K	4:05:54
30K	4:59:19
35K	5:52:54
40K	6:49:25

Maiya's Fun Summer 2009

Here's a book Maiya & I made for Christmas gifts for our family about Maiya's Summer. It's easy to make on Shutterfly and fun to share with family & friends. Enjoy.

Click here to view this photo book larger