Instead of cooling down from a training run by stretching her hamstrings and rehydrating, runner and fundraiser Carrie Williams found herself entering a contest that saw the Texan mother-of-five swap training runs in South Texas for her dream holiday – and a spot in Sunday’s Cayman Islands marathon.
Williams, who lives in San Antonio, tried her luck in the Carvana Drive Your Dream Contest and told the Compass on Friday that she and her husband, Jeff, are still reeling from winning the grand prize.
“We can’t believe it!” she said.
Dreaming of running ‘someplace exotic’
Williams, an avid runner, said the contest “jumped out” at her.
“I really prefer creative sweepstakes where you have to do more than just submit a random name and get lucky,” she explained.
Williams knew her dream experience had to be something involving running.
“I love running and I have put in so many miles of training in South Texas in the same neighbourhood, that my dream experience was to run a half marathon, someplace exotic and different. So I wrote just a couple of sentences saying that much and a month or so later, I got an email saying that I’d been selected as a finalist and that I would need to submit a video, which terrified me because I’m not tech savvy,” she shared.
With the help of her 14-year-old son, Caleb, she detailed her dream experience and why she thought she should win.
“A week later, I got an email saying that I’d won and that I would be contacted by ‘Dream Facilitation’ and here we are. [They] helped me make this amazing plan to come to Grand Cayman and I still can’t believe it,” she said.
Williams said she searched for marathons and had found about ten options, but Grand Cayman stood out for its closeness to the States and because her sister and brother-in-law had honeymooned here.
“She still wears the sea turtle T-shirt that she bought on that trip and she wants me to buy her a new one, so we had to come!” Williams joked.
‘I can do this, whatever is laid ahead of me’
Williams said she has always loved running, dating back to training with her dad when she was in elementary school.
“It’s kind of like my step away from the to-do list. It’s empowering,” she explained of how the exercise makes her feel.
“It just makes me feel like I can do this, whatever is laid ahead of me for the day. Especially as a mom, I work and live and play at home, since we homeschool and it’s just a brief kind of getaway for me where I can turn my mind off… just get away and enjoy it,” she said.
She said she ran her first half marathon six years ago when she fostered and adopted their two youngest children.
That year, she ran a marathon that raised funds for foster and adoption families.
“That was amazing,” she said.
“I trained with a group of people. Running also is such a great community builder. I just feel like wherever you go, if you meet someone that loves to run, you’re automatically part of the same tribe,” she said.
She said her husband is going to run alongside her on Sunday and she is looking forward to completing the experience as a couple.
“Running has been a great tool for motivating my kids and inspiring them to try hard things because when they see mom finish a race, or when they see me get back from a long run, I feel like they think, ‘wow, you know, that takes hard work, but it’s worth it’ and it’s important to take care of ourselves,” she added.
She said the couple has their passports in hand and are ready to live the competition-winning dream on Sunday.
- The Compass ‘Why we run’ series aims to celebrate the personal stories of those who compete in the Cayman Islands Marathon. If you have an interesting or inspiring story about the race, email us at [email protected].
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