34 years
This past month, I completed my 34th year of running every day. Sometimes, I wish that I could reflect back and remember each and every day. Sadly, for most of us our brains don’t work that way. Most of us just remember the high points. I set here typing this knowing that I am part of the “rule” here than the “exception”.
I thought today that I would share of those memories.
I think that I was either 21 or 22 years old at the time.
Several of my buddies wanted to do this age graded race. I was such a newbie
that I had no idea what an age graded race was. But with my buddies nagging me
on, I agreed.
On race day, I remember the race director breaking it all
down for us. The youngest and oldest were given the most advantage in time with
the time advantage getting smaller and smaller. I remember the 25-29 age group
getting no time advantage.
Here, I learned that I would get something like a 3 minute
advantage over my buddies. We all ran roughly similar times so getting a 3
minute advantage was going to make it difficult for them to catch me. Needless
to say, they were not happy about it. On the other hand, I was had quite a big
smile on my face. I was going to enjoy this after all.
We watched runners start based on their age. Nearly all of
the field had left before they got down to the 20-29 age group. I remember
laughing as I walked to the starting line. My buddies had to wait another 3
minutes while I would be disappearing down the road. What’s not to enjoy about
this.
I passed a lot of runners that day. It was so different
because I found myself racing around different people. I ended up finishing 3rd
that day. I was behind a 70+ year old woman and 14 year old girl.
The race was such a cool experience. I have often wondered why
other race directors don’t have them. This was the one and only race that I
have ever done like this. It only happened that one year.
My award for the race was a Rhododendron plant. When I got home, I planted it in my Dad’s
yard. I ran by it for many years. Each time that I looked at it, I always thought about this race.
Hopefully, in all your years of running, you have had many
memorable races,
The Cool Down Runner
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