I stepped back in time today to become a cheerleader again. Don’t worry – I wasn’t wearing a short skirt and pom poms. I was cheering at the finish line of the Flower City Half Marathon, rooting for my sons-in-law, who both beat their last time, finishing in under 2 hours. The best part was seeing downtown full of all kinds of energetic people. Sadly, just a few blocks away, the McCurdy building in Midtown Plaza was being demolished. This marathon is a new event in Rochester – this was the second year – and the great thing about it is that spectators (cheerleaders) could win prizes too. The event was set up, in part, to showcase some of Rochester’s neighborhoods, and the neighborhoods that showed the most enthusiam for the race will get cash prizes for beautification projects. If this is the future of Rochester, I’m all for it.

Later in the day, I did some stepping myself at the CROP walk in Walworth. This event raised awareness and money for hunger, and 25% of the money raised stays local at the Walworth Food Pantry.

I heard there was also an MS walk going on somewhere in the city.

Rochester has always stood at the intersection of Philanthropy and Innovention. Today that was very evident here.