Max's Race

I know I've promised more on the conference, and more is coming. Actually, I've half-finished a post already. But I must post about today. I ran my first ever 5k this morning. I haven't run for about three weeks, so I wasn't really in top form. But I did come in in under thirty minutes, and I wasn't the last in my age/gender group. So I'm generally pleased with my results. I am a little disappointed with myself for having to stop and walk for a few minutes. If you're interested, the official results are here and here's a lovely photo of me crossing the finish line.

The whole vibe there was so warm and friendly. I think I kind of love runners. At one point, I felt as though I were about to throw-up and decided that I should probably start walking to avoid an embarrassing, disgusting scene. Somehow, I ended up walking next to a woman who was walking as well. "Are you going to run the last stretch?" I asked her.

"In a little bit."

We walked for a bit longer, and I then said, "Alright, let's go." And we both started running again. It was a good moment, because it felt like we were feeding off of each other, pushing each other to add that extra effort. Then that vomity feeling came back; I slowed down; and she took off. I never saw her again so I don't know how well she did. But I'm always going to have a fondness for this total stranger whom I was shoulder to shoulder with for maybe three or four minutes.

Another fun runner moment: The final bend of the course was lined with trees, making it difficult to tell exactly how much more was left to the finish. As I was approaching this bend, one of the runners who had already completed was walking back up the trail, and he looked right to me and said, "Only 200 more yards." Now, I'm sure he probably would have said that to any runner along the way, but it felt so personalized, as if he knew how I, specifically, was struggling just to finish, and he was saying, "You're almost there." And he did know how I was struggling, just like he and everyone else before and after me had struggled around that same bend. But his words and the expression on his face gave me that Icandothis attitude I needed to push me through to the end.

I'm grateful that around every bend there was a collection of people cheering on each and every runner (20).