True Fun in the Run

I am a runner.  Yesterday, like so many weekend mornings over the years, I laced up my shoes, pinned on a bib number, gathered all of my seemingly necessary runner accessories and found myself at the starting line of a local 10k race.  If any of you have participated in these events, you know that there is a clear formula for success.  Parking spot, minus timing of the port-a-potty lines, plus clothing layer decisions, divided by previous training schedule, does equal overall enjoyment.

On this day, my running partner and partner in life, my husband, found ourselves late getting out the door.  To our surprise, there were many more participants than we anticipated, so immediately we realized we had missed the good parking opportunity.  Additionally, we hadn't picked up our race packets previously, as we usually try to do, so we did the "I'll park the car and you check us in" method.  This clearly isn't the stress-free way to do it, but the registration volunteers were cheery and helpful and in no time at all I was juggling our goody bags, new shirt, numbers and the allotted safety pins.

As I waited in a clearing scanning the crowd, it became obvious that one should not underestimate the ratio of bathroom facilities to participants on race day.  Any good race coordinator will know that you need twice as many as you think, and that it's best to space them in groups around the course.  Otherwise, you will have a complex maze of waiting lines, matched by confused and anxious runners, trying to find the end of the line while calculating how long it will take prior to the race start.  I quickly understood, we were going to cut it close to race time.

As the race director called everyone to the starting line, and the crush of red shirts packed themselves together roughly by marked mile-times, it struck me again how fabulous these runners, run/walkers, and walkers are.  The enthusiasm, chatter and cheers as the start horn blared was invigorating, and the wave of people led by the fast and serious, followed by the costumed and strollers, made their way onto the course.

For the next 6.2 miles, we ran our way both on-road and off-road, through a trail system that was scattered with newly fallen leaves and lined with cheering volunteers.  We were greeted by posters, high-fives, waving pom pons and shouts of encouragement at various points along the path, and, as usual, the runners themselves were supportive and helpful to one another as we all found our way toward the finish line.

Experiences like these are inspiring and fulfilling to me in so many ways.  The general sense of joining a community event while exercising is certainly inspiring.  But, it is the deeper and small things that I believe motivate me most of all.  It is the numerous young volunteers that chose to get up early on their Saturday and hand-out hundreds of water cups to passers-by.  It is the neighborhood families that walked to the corner with coffee cups in hand to cheer on strangers stampeding through their streets.  It is the local band that played their hearts out for an audience that hears them for a mere minute while passing.  And, of course, it is the mix of elite runners, weekend warriors and first-time beginners who while all clad in running shoes are one group, for one purpose, supporting a good cause.  It truly is aptly named a fun run.  I've found I'm certainly not the fastest, and find myself feeling accomplished and happy nonetheless. I would encourage anyone to try it at least once.  Run, walk or volunteer, just get out there and do it.  You just might find some true fun and inspiration in the run.