So we're now runners. I know, it's pretty shocking to me, too. To find a race that fit our schedule, we ended up driving all the way to Richmond. We were looking for a race that fit some basic criteria: easy, fun, flat and for a good cause. That's how we found ourselves at 7:30am on a Saturday lacing up the shoes at Innsbrook for the Central VA Autism 5K Run/Walk. There were a lot of people there, and most of them looked eerily in shape. Many of them, however, were running through the parking lot in short bursts, arms pumping and knees high in what appeared to be some kind of pre-race ritual; there was, however, very little stretching going on. Also interesting for me was the abundance of lycra in flamboyant colors [why wouldn't you wear neon yellow sleeveless lyrca, really?].
Of course the worst fashion accessory we saw was not clothing but man's best friend. The dogs
in their own strollers were somewhat cute and almost understandable. You want to walk with the dog, it's a race the prohibits dogs on a leash, and so you find a legal and reasonable compromise. OK. But the dog in the BabyBjorn carrier was over the top. Seriously, a woman carrying a toy dog, the dog's legs flailing out in front of it while looking like it's wearing a fancy Swedish diaper, was too much. It was silly looking and frankly embarrassing for the dog.
About 900 people participated in the event, with many more in attendance to watch and cheer. The race started off with a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by a mother of an autistic child. What was fun about that moment, however, was that the race organizer announced that there was no flag, so instead we should all "kinda turn towards that way and pretend there's a flag over there." During the song I couldn't help but think that this was just like Francis Scott Key would have wanted it.
After the anthem, we headed over to the starting gate. There a man wearing a full body cycling suit complete with sponsor patches [and again, why not?] yelled for people to move to the back. After getting no response from the crowd, he then stated that "unless you run a five minute mile, move to the back of the line." And that got things moving right along as a bunch of people moved to join us in the back of the line.
And then we heard the loud beep and we were off...more coming later...
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4 comments:
Just to help you picture it and add to the sentimentality-during the Star Spangled Banner, the direction we were told to look and imagine a flag, was a Hummer Dealership-very moving.
Where is the second part of this post? And where are the dog pictures? Am I on the wrong blog?
Great Scott!
Don't you mean "Great Francis Scott?"
I thought so.
Dog pictures are a-coming, K-Man. No worries.
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