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We never see anything quite like it in Milwaukee any other time of the year. Seventeen thousand people streaming down Wisconsin Ave. on a crisp Saturday morning, running -- and walking -- for any common cause: Our youngsters.

The men, ladies and children who participated Saturday in the 37th Briggs &Al's Run & Walk help 7 days herbal slim raised $1 million to profit Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. With marching bands and cheerleaders across the 8K route and a festival atmosphere at the finish line, it had been simple for a first-timer or perhaps a veteran returner to enjoy one of the great events to finish the summer.

It's not every single day you can fall in line with the runners in the Navy, in the end.

It is a great event, an image that former Marquette University men's basketball coach Al McGuire been on 1977, to attract us all in towards the city for a sense of community.

But you will find, of course, the personal reasons that we run.

Heather Kisley is really a nurse at Children's who works in the surgical unit. Seeing all of the families with their children in strollers is very rewarding to her.

But personally, she was looking for her very own health and fitness goals. She wasn't always a runner. She researched a running program online, a Couch to 5K program, in the suggestion of her cousin.

"She said we ought to get it done to shed weight," Kisley said.

They started meeting up for running events four times a year, and today she's to the half-marathon distances.

"And...I've not lost any weight," she said, laughing. "But it had been something for all of us to complete in an effort to connect. We text each other to determine the way we trained that week, how our training runs went.

"This is totally doable. I do two long runs a week. Give your goal -- a short one -- and then when you hit that, you progress to the next one."

Which was the general idea for this group. Melissa Piper, Gina Bush, Phil Bush, Tricia Bichler and Jen Brown all began running together two years ago. They know one another through work, or school, and chose to start running on the weekends. It may be a normal training run -- or an actual event. It had been a way to keep in touch and active.

They've run from 5Ks to half-marathons. This run is definitely an 8K -- about five miles.

"I love this run," Gina Bush said. "It's a good course along with a great distance and it is an enjoyable experience."

Of course, running could be a little intimidating. Some people automatically assume they simply can't do it.

"I think anybody can do that," Brown said. "You have to go at your own pace. I was all just referring to our last run. It had been like, 'Eh, go, I'll be fine.' We all get together at the conclusion. It comes down to finding your own pace and just getting out there.

"You're not on the couch."

Many runners weren't whatsoever concerned about their times.

"I'm just glad I finished!" Donika Murray said. She ran with her husband, Dave, and her daughter Katie, who is a junior at Marquette. The family ran together for around two miles after which Dave jogged ahead, until they met at the finish line for photos.

Standing nearby was the mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett. Asked how he did, he grinned.

"Well, I'm alive," he said.

Thankful for that cooler weather, Barrett, 60, ran the race in 49 minutes 58 seconds, which he was pleased with. Because he crossed the finish line, people began to recognize him and ask him to pose for pictures.

Marquette University's new president, Mike Lovell, also was spotted on the course. He ran it in 34:11.

Viane Nederpelt was in town from Germany for that week, visiting family. She decided to run with Kathrin Valcarcel-Schott, who's also from Germany but now lives in Oak Creek. Nederpelt did well, running a 46:12.

Should you question them, Al's Run is one of the best things Milwaukee has to offer.

"I'm not really a sports fanatic or anything," Valcarcel-Schott said. "I just enjoy running. I didn't run much before. You simply start slow, and build up from there.

"Running through Milwaukee, with no traffic, with all the people? It is simply awesome."

My father took me on my first Al's Run after i was in high school. I believe I was pleased to allow it to be within an hour or so. It felt like it continued forever. I had been no runner, no doubt. I desired a volleyball, basketball or softball to chase to get me to run anywhere.

But in my 20s, I started running, literally one mile around the treadmill at any given time. I was trying to keep in touch, somehow, to the athlete I had once been.

Since that time, I've run for 100 reasons. For my mental sanity, weight loss or maintenance, or, right now, to coach to have an event. I've done at least five runs now and in all likelihood five from the walks with my loved ones. I think of my father each time at Al's Run.

But on Saturday I began to obtain a little emotional, seeing all the individuals with pictures of children on their T-shirts. My son needed major surgery as he was just 4 weeks old. I'm forever grateful towards the staff at Children's. I hope he is able to run beside pai you guo slim capsule me some day, but about this morning he what food was in soccer. I figured of him for miles, and how lucky i was that he's healthy and that i gave him my Al's T-shirt. I long ago promised that I would be at Al's Run each year like a small token of because of the hospital.

Sometimes the aim is simply to get off the couch.

Sometimes it makes sense just the very gratitude that you could.