Komen Race for the Cure. A great cause and a great event.
The weather was perfect… right around 70 degrees and a very light drizzle… I only wish it would have rained a little more.
There were a ton of folks out (around 1400 in the timed race) and the course was good. The only bad part was a slight uphill start and a little steeper finish. All-in-all, I had a blast.
About a half mile into the race, this little kid (half my height) comes whizzing past me. I thought to myself, "He’ll burn himself out like many fast starters." I usually reserve myself at the begining as I’m running "negative splits." This basically means I gradually run a faster pace as the race goes on. I usually have a lot of folks pass me in the beginning, but I end up passing them back as they start to get weary. But as we rounded the 1st mile marker, this little kid was still pulling away from me. "Wow, this little guy has some legs," I thought.
As we approached the third mile, he starts to teeter out. With the finish in sight (up a hill), I can see he’s really struggling. So as I pull up along side him (remember, I’m running negative splits), I urge him on. "Come on, buddy. You can’t give up on me now. Not after I’ve followed you this far." I keep urging him to dig until we crossed the finish.
This kid was 10 years old and came in 25th in a race of over 1400 people. Talk about inspiration. Way to go Jack Ratterree!!
By the way, I came in 24th and 1st place in my age group. :)
Speedy Lizard 