Its the Most Run-derful Time of the Year

 Merry Christmas to all of my Chronsies out there!

2020 has been a tough, weird year for everyone... which may be the understatement of... well, the year. It kicked off in January, with our dad's health suddenly taking a nose-dive. It was a rollercoaster time for our family, and we tried to keep it as normal as possible in February, when my sisters and I ran the first and only 'normal' races of 2020: the Disney Princess 10k and 1/2 Marathon. (I know I keep saying that I'll write a specific entry for the Disney runs... it'll happen eventually, haha). 

Nothing beats an early morning race to the castle!

February was possibly as 'normal' a month as 2020 could offer, even as our dad's health really began failing... until the words 'Coronavirus' and 'Covid-19' began appearing everywhere. By March, we began 'flattening the curve', and dad passed away. Quarantine/lockdown, Murder hornets, a national coin shortage, the impeachment, Tiger King, the BLM movement, a toilet paper shortage, Kim Jong Un was dead then not, Australia and west coast wildfires, the deaths of RBG, Chadwick Boseman, and Alex Trebek, Joe Biden became president after a tense (to put it mildly) election, and we finally started hearing positive news about a vaccine. 2020 couldn't pass without one final kick in the gut (at least I'm HOPING its the finale of 2020) by unexpectedly taking our uncle Chuck... my dad's brother passed away a bare 9 months after he did.

Virtual races and challenges became the staple of 2020. Team 'Run Beaches, Run' made another appearance at the beginning of December for HMF's '12Ks of Christmas' Challenge. We renamed ourselves to 'Team of Misfit Toys', and rose to the challenge of running a 12k between us every day for the first 12 days of December. It worked out to 144k total, and just like the Surftown Challenge, we crushed it.

But, if anything can be said for 2020, everyone being stuck at home produced some amazing memes, both for runners, and those of us with our autoimmune disorders always in the back of our minds. So let's finish off this crummy year with a few laughs, shall we?

Are we ever REALLY sure if its a flare?

Nothing beats a good running pun!

Very proud. So proud. Please stop now.

I'm sure the legs want to get involved in this questioning too.

I've gotta be bad-ass for SOME reason, right?

We runners are a bunch of rebels and degenerates anyways.

Its a BIG deal for someone not in remission!

It just... feels so long ago! AGES!

Credit to Pace and Pints for this one... Tony's racing memes always keep me laughing (check out his blog here)!

Of course, we should always be looking forward to the future. As the vaccine starts working its magic, maybe 2021 will be the year we start seeing our regular races returning. I'm kicking it off with another virtual challenge which counts more than just running... the Jack Frost Challenge lets participants track all of their activities, from running to yoga to skiing and beyond. But here's hoping that within the year we'll be able to sign up for a run that doesn't need a virtual option. My bank account will suffer, but it'll all be worth it to be back out on the roads.

Happy New Year, everyone! Continue to stay safe and run miles!

Latest Running Jam: Don't Wanna Go Home - Jason Derulo