Team WeeBees!

Wanna be a WeeBee?  It’s time to register!

This will be the third year for Team WeeBee to run  the You Go Girl! 10K and Half Marathon in Tacoma, WA on September 15, 2013.  If you wish to register with Team WeeBee, I need to have your race registration form (click here for PDF) and payment in my hands by March 20, 2013. Team discount fees are $24 for the 10K, and $60 for the half-marathon.
Please print, fill out, and SIGN the form at the link above.  Then I need you to get it to me, with payment.  You can mail it to me (leave me a comment below with your email, I will send you the address), or deliver it via one of our … oh, shall we call them “office captains”?  I’ll list them here as they volunteer (or, in the parlance, “get volun-told”).
  • Labor & Industries – Tamara Jones
  • Legislature - Susan Howson
  • Cupcake Mafia – Suzanne Pearson
Others to be announced… let me know if you're willing, or if you're bringing a group of friends along - the more the merrier!

What is this?  You Go Girl! is a woman’s run/walk with proceeds benefiting the Pierce County YWCA.  You can choose from distances of 10K (6.2 miles) or half-marathon (13.1 miles).  I got roped into the first running by a grad school colleague, and I’m so happy she did – because it rekindled my interest in running after many sedentary years.  The next year, I made the mistake of saying something about the run OUT LOUD at work – and suddenly there was a team!  Whoa!  It became one of those “invite two friends, and they invite two friends, and…” sort of deals where we all basically met each other on race day – a loosely-gelled group of encouragers and willing drag-ees.  Generally, it was perfect. 

Why are we “Team WeeBee”?  Those friends who first jumped on the bandwagon were casting about for an appropriate name (after many inappropriate attempts left us in hysterics).  We came up with “WeeBee” because it let us capture the myriad individual reasons we were signing up; it is how we imagined ourselves, how we defined our reason for running.  “We be STRONG.”  “We be BEAUTIFUL.” “We be DETERMINED.” “We be FAST.”  You get the idea.  We each had our word.  (We tried to get organized enough to make t-shirts, but that whole “loosely-gelled” thing… yeah, not so organized.)

Why do we do this together?  Because it’s fun – and if you’re going to undertake something as nutty as walking (or running!) six or thirteen miles, it’s ALWAYS better to do so surrounded by 2,000 like-minded (aka crazy) women (and a handful of guys who wear pink).  And a note about that – YES, our men can sign up as well.  We have in past years been joined by husbands and boyfriends; this year, my son will be joining us along with some of his swim team friends.  The race website says that guys must wear something pink, but given past experience I don’t think that’s enforced. J

Why should I sign up for Team WeeBee?  Why not just sign up on my own?  Well, there’s a discount if you sign up with a team.  Race fees get expensive, so sometimes any little bit helps.  I think the more compelling reason is that joining Team WeeBee (or any team) builds in accountability.  You’re part of a group, they’re all expecting you to be there on race day – it’s a lot harder to back out.  You get encouragement from your fellow WeeBees throughout the summer and on race day.  And besides, it’s just fun to say!  (Or maybe that’s just my awesome weirdness showing through.)

2 comments:

  1. I'm so excited, can't wait!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will go as far as I can for as long as I can!! :)

    ReplyDelete