St. Joseph Home has two major fundraisers a year, one of which is called Incline to the Finish. It’s a 5K walk/run competition with a daunting hill for the last leg. (The Home is located on the top of one of Cincinnati’s noteworthy hills) People come from all over the area to participate. And now that Angie lives there we always participate and invite friends and family. This year was exceptionally well attended and especially fun. It was so wonderful to have family and friends come to together and share the miracle of St. Joseph Home and then the struggle to get to the top of the never-ending hill at the end of the run/walk.
St Joseph organizes this event very professionally. They make it possible for us to pick up our team members’ numbers and t-shirts the Friday before the race. Team captains also have the opportunity to decorate the team tables. This year was very windy on Friday, and even though we had a giant tent, we decided to wait until the morning of the race to decorate “Angie’s High Rollers’” tables. On Saturday morning, we arrived early to decorate and have time to help Angie get dressed in one of her new team t-shirts. Melissa (mwilzdesigns), one of our team family members did a fantastic job designing a special T-shirt for “Angie’s High Rollers.” It was very exciting to have matching red team t-shirt this year, especially since we had the largest turnout ever. As soon as Angie was ready, we headed out to meet the rest of the team and take pictures, watch the kids’ race, and the runners head out. After the runners left, the rest of us walkers and rollers headed down the hill. Angie loved rolling along with all the rest of us. She enjoyed all the high school students cheering us on along the way too. She especially enjoys passing the firehouse, because she really likes to see the firemen. In addition, she enjoys the fact that different people take turns pushing her along the route. The last leg of the race is a truly formidable hill, and pushing a wheelchair up it takes a real effort. Angie’s brother John, with the help of Angie’s sister, Meg, plus other friends made it look easy. After the race St. Joseph Home rewarded everyone with mimosas and breakfast, after which the director, Dan Connors, announced the winners and celebrated each team. Angie’s High Rollers was not the number one team, but we had spirit and we met our fund-raising goal. All in all, it was a most successful day!