My First Race

In the past, when I would meet someone who was training for "such-and-such race," there was part of me that wanted to ask, "But, really... why?" The thought of running in front of a crowd of people and having them watch you huffing and puffing across the finish line was a little ridiculous to me.

A couple months, ago, however, I got suckered into signing up for a half marathon that is to take place over Labor Day weekend. (Aside: I've actually always wanted to run in a half marathon, but never had the guts to do it. I wasn't really "suckered" per say, but maybe half-hearted about agreeing to it.) So I've been trying to increase my running mileage and decided that I should run in at least one race before the big one. So this past Sunday, I ran in a five-miler through the city.

I totally get it now. There really is a rush in crossing the finish line, no matter how slow you ran! And I don't know if they do this is all races, but they actually announced your name as you crossed. I was like, "Hey, that's me!" It was also neat to see my kids watching me run. I go to the gym and send them off to the childcare room where they know that I'm doing some abstract thing called exercise. But I realized that they never actually see me running.

I was worried, going into the race, that I'd be turned off to running with a crowd of people. There were definitely points in which I wanted to push someone out of my way. But for the most part, I appreciated running along side other people without feeling any obligation to talk to them! Throughout the course, there were kids giving high-fives and people clapping and cheering everyone on. It really was encouraging! I just hope those kids had some hand-sanitizer after slapping everyone's sweaty hands. After the race, there was water and snacks galore and a general party atmosphere. It was definitely a positive experience.

I'm already signed up for my next race.