Running Moments – Part 2
Last week I shared about the Cherry Blossom run – a beautiful 10 mile run in Washington DC at the peak of the Cherry Blossom bloom. Thousands of people run this race. It’s impeccably organized and has all the amenities of a big race.
Annapolis has a sister race that they lovingly call the Cherry Pit. As I understand it, originally the Cherry Pit was run the afternoon of the Cherry Blossom. This was so that you could run the Cherry Blossom in the morning then head out to Annapolis and complete the Cherry Pit in the afternoon.
The year that I ran it the races were scheduled a week apart. There were maybe a hundred and fifty runners, compared to the thousands that show up for the Cherry Blossom. It was the first time I’d run a race this small. Not only was it small, but it was also primarily serious runners. Compared to the all-abilities that show up for the Cherry Blossom.
The Cherry Blossom folks lined up in chorales to organize the start by bib number. The Cherry Pit participants simply mulled around the start line. The Cherry Blossom, there was a public address system and start gun used to kick off the race, the Cherry Pit there was a fellow who yelled “ready, set go”. As he yelled “go”, almost the entire field of runners was lost from my view. In the large races, I typically ended up mid-pack. In this small race, I was with a handful of stragglers.
This was nearly twenty years ago, so age-wise I was in the middle. This particular race I settled in beside a runner who was twenty to thirty years older. Running as hard as I cold – huffing and a puffing I was able to keep even with her. We ran together for several miles, at which time she turned to me and said – “honey, you don’t have to wait for me.” I told her; I wasn’t waiting on her but working to keep even. Roughly, have way through her pace slowed a tad and I was able to pull ahead.
The finish of this race was interesting also, as you were handed a card with a number on it, that you then added your name to. This number was where you placed in the race. I was second to last. My partner from the start of the race came in behind me. This particular race gave a massive basket of goodies to the final person to cross the finish line. Too bad I had run the fastest ten miles I had ever run rather than running my typical pace. Even though I did not get a prize, I was proud of my pace and see the day for the legacy moment it was.
