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.