Butte to Butte 10K run on July 4th, 2015  
TEAM THOMAS got Mentioned in the REGISTER GUARD ARTICLE this year! Complete with typos - I am referred to in the article as Thomas's dad "Randall"! All I can think is it was due to being out of breath at the finish when the reporter was recording me!

This year was another fun run, even though we have not run any events for some time.  (we missed the eugene marathon because we were in China adopting Thomas' new little brother. )

We were shooting for a finishing time under an hour which we did,  Im not sure our exact time but we crossed the finish at about 59min.  I have to say I forgot how steep that hill was!  Even with two pushers up the hill, we ended up walking the last 50 ft or so.  

Pics:
1: This years crew, left to right: Russell, Matt, Mike, Justin, and Thomas of corse.  Thanks to dad/grandpa mike for being our trusty support vehicle driver: dropping us off and finding us a close parking spot at the finish (no one saw you move those cones!)  New runner was Justin pictured in 1 and 5.  HE ran for time and finished under 40th overall with a time under 40 min. Not bad for a first time racer who started running 6 months ago! wow!
2: Matt and Laurel Mathiesen - co-founders of Team Thomas!
3: Rocking the lighting Nikes with his speedy duck wings!
4: Thomas with Any Papendick and Friend.
5: Justin at the start.
Everyone gathered around T at the finish with Aunt Judy Witke saying hi and Justin flexing for the camera!
6-7: getting ready before the race
8: driving by the remains of Civic Stadium on the way to the start.

If you know Thomas, You know Thomas LOVES Football!  And Yesterdays game at Home with Michigan St. was his favorite game yet!  The stakes were high as this was going to be one of the toughest games we were going to face this year, as they won the 2013 Rose bowl beating out Stanford who beat us last year.  This was a big game for us, and fortunately the ducks pulled it off with flying colors (actually only one color- and that color was "Yellow")  after being down at the half.  

To add the the excitement, we walked around the tailgaters and Thomas met some new friends.  One who worked for years with special olympic ski racers had a great time meeting Thomas and talking ducks, and cars of course.  That is his family with Thomas in front of his "Ducked out" classic.  Thanks guys for reaching out to help those with special needs.  

Another shout out to the family of the shirt printer who made Thomas' shirt. You can find him on instagram at "duckn8tion".  We met their family who flew here from Hawaii for the game! How is that for sharing the Aloha Spirit?!

And the Icing on the day, aside from pulling off the WIN of course, was to bump into "Uncle Phil" at the elevator.  Thanks to the crowds, He had a second to take this shot with Thomas!

Team Thomas completes their first Butte to Butte! Welcome to New Runner: Dan Lockwood! I think he is hooked!

Thomas was able to get a private tour of the new Duck Facility this week right before the season kickoff, thanks to our friend and trainer Travis Halseth!  Here are some pics of the new facility and Thomas at practice.  After practice was over, Thomas got quite a surprise:  Travis took him up to introduce him to the team!  To this,  Thomas was so surprised, he was "Speechless"!!! Afterward the team all stopped to sign his poster, Thank you team!  You were all so great.  Special Thanks to Travis, and also Matt Wogan (freshman Kicker #49) who ran into us and chatted at Chipotles the other night.  

What a day that was,  with all that went on,  the whole things was so amazing,  but what Thomas said was the most exciting thing all day, that he just could not believe, that Jerry Allen came by and met him.  That made his year.  Thank You Jerry!

Join us in two weeks!
Events include a 5& Under kids race, an 8K, and a 2 mile walk 

One of the benefits of running in Marathons is you get to meet such great people!  Countless people cheered for Thomas and gave him a fist bump.  Some ran along side and asked about Team Thomas.  Some just Yelled "Go-Thomas!" Some helped push (thank you to the guy on the hill around mile 8!!!) 

And then there is Jeff Snell who I met around mile 4.  His son was born premature and was eventually diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.  He was pushing his son micah in a jogger stroller.  He is in a series of three consecutive marathons within 3 months to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy.  You can find his website here micahsmiles.org, and also in the Links we like page.  

It was great to get to know him over the course of about 9 miles we talked, I'm sorry if it slowed your pace! Looking forward to running together again in the future.