Still Running Ubuntu in 2012 - Austin Gorilla Run

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Winter time is road race season in Austin, Texas.  The weather is cool and sunny, and it's actually quite a nice time to venture out for some long runs. I've run three races in Austin so far this year.

Below is just one of the three races.

Austin Gorilla Run 5k

Former Gazzanger Unji Udeshi was one of the organizers and race chairs for the Austin Gorilla Run, which was truly one of the most unique races I've ever experienced.

Proceeds from the race directly benefit Ugandans, Rwandans, and citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo in veterinary educational training, with the end goal of protecting the highly endangered Mountain Gorillas in Africa. In 1987 there were only 248 mountain gorillas alive in the world, but through the veterinary and conservation efforts of the MGCF, the population has nearly tripled to 720.

Over 1200 of us dressed up in full Gorilla suits to "run" a 5K (for a very loose definition of "run").  Mostly we just goofed off and had a really good time.

Here's a quick pose in the Gazzang parking lot before the race....

Being the good gorillas we were, Larry (Gazzang CEO) and I took a break from the race to a little climbing.

I brought my dogs, Tiger and Aggie, who were a little skittish of all the goofball gorillas at first!  They're really well trained dogs, and are running up to 15 miles with me at a time now.  Kim took a ton of awesome pictures.

And our crew, unmasked and post race enjoying the Silverback Pale Ale from Austin's own Thirsty Planet Brewery...  Unji, Larry Warnock, Liz Britain, Catelin Warnock, Dustin, Tiger, and Aggie!

So what's the point of this post?  Get out there and get some exercise!  Support a charity and run a race or two!  Support your own cause (Ubuntu/Linux for me) by wearing a shirt and showing some pride for something you believe in!

Read about the Austin 3M Half Marathon and Austin Livestrong Half Marathon here.

:-Dustin