We ran the 4th of July 5K and raised $825 for Rover Rescue!

To celebrate Independence Day in the USA, we once again participated in the 22nd Annual Village Runner 4th of July 5K. My dogs Koa, Lau Lau, and I pledged to raise money for Rover Rescue, a local dog rescue organization in Redondo Beach, California, by participating in the race and asking friends to donate money to show their support.

Over 100 dogs are put to sleep in overcrowded Los Angeles area animal shelters every day. Many of these homeless dogs have been abandoned, abused or neglected, without ever knowing the love of a caring human being. Rover Rescue saves dogs from overcrowded Los Angeles area animal shelters, and fosters or boards each rescued dog until the right owner is found. While in their care, dogs are walked, socialized and given loving care. Dogs that are sick or injured are given proper medical attention and vaccinated, spayed or neutered. All of Rover Rescue’s support comes from donations and volunteers, and they keep working, “until every dog has a home.”

We met and adopted both Koa and Lau Lau through Rover Rescue, and we believe in their mission to match prospective owners with the right shelter dog so that the dogs will never be homeless again.

We hoped to raise $700 for Rover Rescue, and I posted on Facebook, tweeted and sent emails to friends and family asking for their support. I am thrilled that we raised $825 for Rover Rescue through Crowd Rise’s online donation platform. We are still able to accept donations, and we would greatly appreciate any amount you can give to Rover Rescue via Crowd Rise.

On race day, the boys were excited by the crowds of people gathered at the start line. We started slowly, but soon Koa was ready to run, and we alternatively ran and walked the entire course. We did much better and beat last year’s time of 42:04 by completing the course in 37:37! It’s not fast compared the overall race winner’s time of 15:22, but we still had fun seeing other dogs on the course, passing some people and waving and cheering for the leaders.

We are so thankful for everyone that donated to our race, especially our four-legged friends Travis and Leinie. Most importantly, we are grateful for the work that Rover Rescue does to find every dog a loving home. We hope if you plan to add a dog to your family that you adopt a dog from a local rescue organization or shelter…until every dog has a home!

More photos from our day are below. Please “like” Rover Rescue on Facebook, and see more photos from the race at the Village Runner 4th of July 5K Facebook page.

Approaching the start line so we can line up behind it for the race.

The race begins! We started at the back of the pack with the other dogs and walkers.

Running along the Esplanade in Redondo Beach with the Pacific Ocean to our left.

Running back along the Esplanade, here we are turning to return to Riviera Village and the home stretch!

Koa and Lau Lau take their race pace very seriously.

We stopped by to see our friends at Rover Rescue after the race.

Patiently waiting for a treat to celebrate finishing the race!

Thank you for considering a donation to Rover Rescue!