Race for the Cure

The first 5k I ran in the Burgh was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, in 2000. I ran with a few coworkers from my last job, and my personal goal was to finish the race without once walking. I did not care if I had to jog in slow motion; I refused to walk.

What I was not prepared for was the start that pretty much was not. When the gun went off, we did not move; there were just too many people. After a minute or so, we made our way to the actual starting line, but we spent the first half of the race dodging walkers (note, that I pretty much was jogging in slow motion for the first few minutes). I remember being irritated, wondering why the walkers would be at the front of the line, in the way of the runners. I ended up at just under 34 minutes (thanks, Google!), knowing I would have done better had there not been so many walkers.

Later I realized that one does not participate in the Race for the Cure to win any accolades or run like the wind. You just do it because it is for good cause. Still, I was not disappointed when the next year the runners and walkers were separated (I cannot remember if one group started after the other or if they ran slightly different courses). I shaved about three and a half minutes off my time (again, thanks, Google).

It is great to run that race, with tens of thousands of people. Running up the snaking hill I could probably do without (I think it has some colorful nickname). Since I just got back into running recently, hopefully I can stick with it enough to make a return to this 5k. I think my last Race for the Cure was 2002.