Cheering at the Thunder Road Races
How did you spend your Saturday morning?
On a side now, my voice is a little raspy and my throat is “scratching”
this morning, but these side effects will pass and the reason behind these
effects was well worth it.
To Jinnie, Lauren, and Kat, Rob, and Caitlin, “Thank You” for helping organize our cheer zones. Making a difference requires so little effort, but it does require it.
I spent my morning cheering on my friends that were out
running in the Thunder Road Half and Full marathon. But just as importantly, I
cheered on a lot of runners that I don’t know.
The day started early when I headed for the TrySports Cheer
zone at the 9.5 mile mark. I found myself scanning the runners as they passed
for the people that I knew were racing. I wanted to give them a shout out by
name. As the crowd of runners grew larger, I found several runners were calling
out my name as they passed. I of course shouted back once my eyes locked on to
them and recognition was established. In a sea of orange, lime green, blue,
pink, etc of colors, I have to admit something. Everything thing blends
together.
Long about 9:30, I headed over to my second cheer section near
the 25 mile which was to be our Charlotte Running Club cheer zone.
The cheer zone at 9 miles is important but maybe the 25 mile
cheer is the most important. Here, the majority of the runners were locked in on one thing. They wanted
to be finished. Their bodies were experiencing dehydration and fatigue.
Cramping was becoming an issue. They have moved from looking graceful at 9 miles
to struggling now. Several runners were stopping to stretch or taking a walk
break. Our group sent tons of encouragement their way because they needed
it the most. There is nothing like
seeing them stop to walk and then hear us cheering. Then, they try running again.
Our cheer zone remained in place until well after 1pm
yesterday.
One of the final runners came by our location and made this comment to us - “Thanks for being here for
the stragglers”. We stayed and cheered because
he needed our energy just as much as the guy that won the race. To Jinnie, Lauren, and Kat, Rob, and Caitlin, “Thank You” for helping organize our cheer zones. Making a difference requires so little effort, but it does require it.
To Thunder Road racers enjoy your rest and recovery time.
Sharing on thought at time,
The Cool Down Runner
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