Irvine Lake Mud Run - Summer of mud, Gavin's Groupies raising awareness of blindness.

We had runners, we had walkers. We had adults, grandparents, great grandparents, teenagers and children. We had new friends, we had old friends. We had families, individuals and babies in strollers. People we went to high school with (and hadn't seen since), neighbors, friends of friends, and new people just happy to join our cause.

I had tears of thankfulness, many moments of joy, many hugs and laughter.

We walked away with more strength, admiration and love for those who continue to support us, and an even more grateful heart.

We had fun, we got muddy -- and mission was accomplished!

The course at Irvine Lakes in Orange, CA. We did our first mud run in April, I wrote about it here. We had 50 more people this time, and ONLY 60 people were returning, which means in just two months, we had 180 new people join us!

I'm trying to hurry and get our booth ready for the crowd.

Our registration desk. We had over 240 people JUST ON OUR TEAM! We had to check in all of them, have them sign the waiver and give them their number. They had a great process, thanks guys for working so diligently! That's my cousin Cody on left, friend Megan, my aunt Michi (in back), and my sister Karyn on right. It was very hot in the booth, with not a lot of air flow.

This is Grandma Alice and some of her grand kids/great grand kids. If everyone had a grandma Alice, the world would be a better place. You will always find her working our booths and talking about her great grandson, Gavin. I'm so happy my cousins who could come, did. It's always so nice to have your family with you!

Many people came early, to avoid traffic. They hung out in front of our booth. It was so awesome having our team mingle with each other - ORANGE was everrrrywheerrrre!

Summer and her buddy, Gavin.

Cousin Kyle and his infamous smirk.

Gavin staying cool in his playpen.

Daddy and Gavin.

They made their own Groupies shirts, love it!

Shot of my family before they took off running.

L-R James, Sharlene, Chuck and John. Sharlene joined our team, with her guide Chuck. Sharlene is blind and likes to be active, and often runs marathons, half marathons, has cycled across Europe and that's just a brief rundown of what she has accomplished. This was her very first mud run! I was touched to have her and Chuck with us. John (team captain) ran with blacked out goggles, so he could get a sense of what it's like to do this without vision, rely on a guide, and use his other senses to help him complete the race. He said he was very humbled by the experience. James was John's guide throughout the race. Next time you don't think you can do something, think about Sharlene! She has inspired me. This photo speaks many words, but most of all - resiliency and perseverance.

Groupies at the Start line, getting ready to go!

The great people who run the mud run, have been SO extremely supportive of us and our cause. They give us a terrific platform to be able to get people involved, and just makes us want to strive for more, and do more. A special thanks to all of them! They put on a fun event!

Richard Blade was again doing the announcing. He's always so great! He talked about Gavin, our cause, and handed the mic to Troy so he can say a few words to our team. Troy thanked everyone, and told everybody how much we appreciate them for being there and running for Gavin!

Look at all that orange -- WOW! That's just our team!

John being guided by James.

Mud

... and more mud.

And some bubbles. They even had a kids race.

The after math.

John and James

Sharlene and Chuck, just finished!

We also had a team enter into the Dirty Dodge ball tournament, that took place after the mud run. We took 2nd place! This was brutal. It was blazing hot, and they did not mess around!

My sister in law, and niece Maya. They couldn't be with us because they are on vacation, so they brought Gavin's Groupies to Costa Rica!

We have close to 200 pictures on Facebook of the event, please check them out on Gavin's Groupies page.

Trish joined us and ran with us, and wrote about it. Thank you Trish!