I have a whoping 15 minutes between now & when my big bro is arriving to help me load the 420 bottles of water into his truck, so I thought I'd give a last-minute race report.

* We're up to about 330 pre-registered runners for the Her Times 5K Women's race tomorrow. We can expect another 80 to 100 to sign up day-of-race, depending on the weather.

* Speaking of the weather -- it's forecast to be 50 degrees & raining. ugh! I shouldn't complain...I know it could be worse!

* We WILL have post-race massages -- yay! Courtesy of Great Lakes Institute students who will be coming to give wearing runners a rub-down.

* There will be directional signs pointing you to the Rotary Pavilion. My dear dad is painting them as I type.

* You are better off parking at Beach #6 or Beach #8. There will be limited parking at the cabins area & near the pavilion.

* I suggest you plan to get to the race early. Traffic can be quite backed up when it's down to one lane (because we'll have "coned off" one lane for the race).

* Common Ground will be offering some cool entertainment. Cathi "GG" Mitchell who founded Uncommon Ground gave me this background on her group:

Don't know how much you know about Common Ground. To give you a quick briefing. I started it in 2004 because I realized how diverse and talented my performer friends that I like to support are. But I also noticed that it was always the same people in the audiences and they were usually much like the performer(s). I just felt like more people should have the opportunity to experience performers of different races, religions, abilities, and lifestyles than their own or what they were use to. I wanted the shows to be free to encourage more people to step out of their comfort zones.

So birthed Common Ground's Diversity Talent Showcase. I have showcased over 400 performers over the past 4 years. We have done about 15 shows to date and each show features 15 - 50 diverse performers sharing the stage for a common purpose or theme. One division of Common Ground is Project Can Do, where I feature all special needs children and adults. I always have at least one special needs performer in every regular Common Ground show.

We use to do shows at Moonsense Cafe once or twice a month, but since they closed and we lost our free venue, shows have been sparse. For the past year and a half, I have been trying to pair up with local organizations and benefits such as the HerTimes 5K.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your event and for all you do to make the HerTimes 5K possible!

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

* In the front of the pavilion -- near the course start, we'll have DJ Kelly playing all the music to keep you motivated.

* The shirts are in & they are CUTE! Lavendar, women's-cut and v-neck. You're going to love them.

See you all tomorrow -- bright and early!