In the Company of SparkPeople Heroes

By , SparkPeople Blogger
By Bob Dawson

On Saturday, March 27, 2010 I had the opportunity to meet up with some fellow SparkPeople members in Pittsburgh who were participating in the Just a Short Run. This was a series of races comprised of six events all going on at the same time. There were four running events--5k, 12k, half marathon and a 30k and two walking events-- 5k and 12k.

Eleven SparkPeople members joined over 2000 other runners and walkers on a cold 23 degree morning all set to have a great day. We had all events covered and the members who finished earlier cheered alongside family members, until the last of us crossed the finish line. Each member finished their race with a renewed spirit.

Below is a recap of how we did as a individuals.

Recap of the Race Day:

PATRICLES43- set a PR in the 5k

LYNNANN43 -ran her first 5k, so a PR and achieved 100lb weight loss to date in the same day!

MIAMIA7-place 3rd in her age group 5k (my wife)

BILLALEX70 – ran his first 12k, so a PR

QUIDDITCHGRRL –ran her first 12k, so again a PR

BOBBYD31 –first 12k another PR

AMCG2002 - ran her first half marathon, so a new PR

JAN_FRANDSEN -half marathon

ROSENJ1965-30k(stopped on her way from NJ to KY, although we never did meet up)

CALIDREAMER76 -first 5k walk race

DJS-DEBBIE - first 5k walk race

PRETTYKITTY26 -first 5k walk race(DJS-DEBBIE'S daughter)

Cathy - 12k walk race (wife of Jan_Frandsen)



After the race, 19 of us went out to lunch at “On The Border” a Mexican restaurant about 30 minutes away. PATRICLES43 printed out the menu with all the calories and highlighted all the low calorie choices on the menu so we could make healthy choices. We spent the next two hours eating, talking and getting to know each other. Most of us only knew each other from the message boards, however some of the members had biked together and others had previously met at the Spark Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio last September.

As we talked, we learned why we were on SparkPeople and how our lives have changed. But what I did not know was I was in the presence of some true HEROES! Together we have lost nearly ½ ton and we have SparkPeople to thank for helping us all reach our goals.

BILLALEX70 over 270 lbs lost

DJS-DEBBIE over 140 lbs lost

CALIDREAMER76 over 110 lbs lost

QUIDDITCHGRRL over 100 lbs lost

LYNNANN43 100 lbs lost

AMCG2002 0ver 80 lbs lost

MIAMAI7 75 lbs lost

BOBBYD31 70 lbs lost

PATRICLES43 63 lbs lost

JAN_FRANDSEN over 20 lbs lost

PRETTYKITTY26 12 lbs lost

You my friends, are a true INSPIRATION ! Thank you for coming to our little race, sharing your friendship, your stories and being part of Anne’s and my life. A special thanks goes out to JOPAPGH who actually started setting this up but was unable to attend because he took a trip to Boston with his son. Also thanks goes out to Bill for getting the Ohio crew here. Thanks guys!



Bob hails from western Pennsylvania and has been a member of SparkPeople for over 2 years. In that time he has lost 70 pounds. He has been married 25 years to his lovely wife, Anne, who is also a SparkPeople member and has lost 75 pounds herself. The Dawsons own their own cleaning business and will be featured in an upcoming edition of Woman's Day Magazine.

Do reading stories like this inspire you to want to meet up with other SparkPeople members? How far would you be willing to travel to participate in an event such as this one?