I'm a Celebrity

OK, not quite - but I did get my picture taken with some very famous people!

On Thursday night of this past week I went to the kick off event for an organization called TX TOUGH. The TX TOUGH Tour is a pledge fund-raiser created exclusively to raise money for Children's Medical Center in Dallas. After you pledge to raise money for Children's, you are able participate in a run, swim or bike event. Each event is an individual stage of the Tour and occurs at different times during the calendar year. Each stage features opportunities to watch professional-level racing, and includes activities for kids, lots of food and live music, all in an exciting, action-packed weekend.

I have several ties to the the bike event of the TX TOUGH Tour. My old bosses at Southwest were planning to participate in the bike ride on Sunday, September 14th, 2008. (The bike ride was rescheduled due inclement weather from Hurricane IKE.) And my cousin, Lauren, works for the Chairman of the Executive Committee for TX TOUGH.

Lauren invited me, along with my Dad, Uncle, and my other cousin Amanda to attend the kick off event held at the American Airlines Center in Victory Park where we were able to see the 2008 Pro Cycling Criterium. What is a criterium, you ask? Well it's a one-day, high speed, bicycle race on a circuit-style road course. These races are historically run on courses that loop through city streets offering spectators the opportunity to watch the athletes up close as they reach top speeds of 45-55 miles per hour.

It was crazy to see how fast those bikers were able to ride! I could feel the wind blowing my hair as they passed by. Below are some pics from the criterium.

But, now onto my high profile photo shoot. As we were watching the bikers prepare for their race, I spotted Gloria Campos, anchor for WFAA Channel 8 news, preparing for the 6:00 pm nightly broadcast from Victory Park. Before she went on camera, I snagged her for a quick photo!

As the beginning of the race drew near and the bikers took their position behind the starting line, I spotted another very familiar face in Dallas. Ross Perot, Jr. was standing next to the starting line, preparing to send off the eager racers. Once the race began, I grabbed him for a photo op.

We had a wonderful night watching the racers and taking advantage of once in a lifetime opportunities!