For all the legs...

Last weekend Holly and I did the St. Patty's Day run around Fiesta Island. Starting at 7:30am, we set off with the 100 or so other runners decked out in tight green shorts and shiny green hats. It was a pumped up crowd, people were laughing, singing and woot wooting...then the 10k-ers split off from us 4-milers and the 2 milers to make their glorious way around the entire island and it got a bit subdued. By subdued, I mean, everyone started walking and the track turned into a narrow sidewalk. Those of us with any dignity left had to dodge around, repetitively warning "on your left!". As I careened past one lolly-gagging group, I heard someone say "oh, she must be lost". I panicked a bit, straining my eyes ahead to glimpse other kindred joggers and spotted a few...quite a bit ahead of me. Everyone around me was really just there to socialize. People were talking on the phone updating loved ones about the "run" they were doing for charity, even if they were just walking. Women were gabbing about the latest dating fiasco or proclaiming "HE is such a JERK". It is amazing to me that if you put two or more women into running shoes and place them in motion on a hard surface together, they will inevitably start talking about men, and more specifically, how bad men are. I was almost chuckling as I caught snippets of general feminine disappointment along the way.

In a run like this, the 10k-ers get all the glory. and by glory I mean, automated finish lines with an announcer calling out to some of them by name, throngs of people waiting to towel you off and exchange your number stub with a medal, and a clock to tell you just how fast you ran. With memories of crossing the finish to a cheering crowd (and Elvis impersonators) during the half marathon I ran a few years ago in Vegas, I made sure I had enough energy to run fast across the 4-mile finish. However when I got there the first of the 10k-ers were crossing their finish 50 yards away and a crowd had formed. The 4-mile finish was devoid of people and the timer was stuck at 44 minutes (which was extremely disappointing to realize later on!). I actually wasn't even sure I had actually crossed the finish it was so dead so I kept jogging for a few minutes until I realized the crowd was just getting farther away. A few moments later I ran into Holly who quickly procured for us shiny green medals and the ugly race tee and we limped over to the beer garden.

By 9:30am we had finished the run, eaten free pizza and imbibed on beers at the complimentary Ballast Point Brewery beer garden. It was quite a day. I gotta say though, the best part was passing the lone Go Vavi mascot walking along Mission Bay Dr. still in full tiger gear. He certainly had not lost his spirit, for whatever he was trying to promote and was pumping his arms at the invisible crowd.

Next time I am going to do the math right and run the 10k.