Millan: ‘We only run for T-shirts and Medals’ as friends get ready for El Tour 5K

Phoenix Millan can’t wait for the El Tour 5K. Well, she and her friends can’t wait. They will be running in their first event in our event on Nov. 22 near downtown.

Someone brought up El Tour and said, “isn’t that a bike race? Yes, but they have a 5K, too, so I said, ‘let’s see.’”

Every event matters when you’re trying to stay healthy and lose weight.

She came, she saw and now comes the conquering part. Millan & Friends are registered.

“We only run for shirts and medals,” she said. “We need proof that we did it.”

And, yes, they are ready, just finishing a four-mile event and a couple of 5Ks.

“It’s part of our training,” she said.

They’ll be doing a 10K in Phoenix next week.

Here’s the catch – if there is one. They’ve only been running for about seven months. It coincides with Millan’s gastric sleeve surgery which occurred last year. She’s since lost 210 pounds (she was 406 when this all started). One friend has lost 120 pounds and another two have lost 200 pounds each.

When they started the running/walking process, she said, “we only ran for food.”

“If we went two miles we’d go to Starbucks,” she said.

Destinations had outcomes: donuts and coffees.

“Those were our rewards,” she said. “Then we got serious and health started to become important. We’re getting to the age where that’s important.

Now, they run and it’s not for food, but again “t-shirts and medals.”

It hasn’t been easy, and yes there was a time – or two – she thought of giving up.

“Halfway through I was OK losing 50 pounds … we’d run together and think, ‘it’s ok to be fat … but then say, ‘we gotta keep going.’”

What also drives them is they do not – repeat do not – want to have a DNF next to their names. Did Not Finish is not part of their verbiage.

“We paid money for this race I don’t care if we are going to crawl to the finish line, we are going to finish this race,” she said.

Next up El Tour? It’s possible, she said.

A friend has encouraged her to start cycling and get into El Tour one day.

“I said, ‘no, you all are crazy, you guys are out there doing 20, 30, 50 miles,” she said, laughing.

But he said once you get into it you’ll be fine.

So, she has bought a bike, “a pink specialized” one.

“I’m going to ride,” she said. “When we do our practice runs (and see cyclists on the Loop), they are friendly and wave to us. I say, ‘one day I’m going to be like you.”

One day, one day … until then they will run.