OK - the Bridge run was GREAT!!! I started the day rather nervous about going by myself. The race was at 8am. They recommended getting there early to get free parking at meters around the convention center. I was planning to get there at 6:30 to get a spot, then thought 7... I left the hotel at 6:45, and the car didn't start -dead battery. By the time AAA got there, it was 7:20. I rushed to the directions I had, then wondered how I would find my way to the start. Then, I saw a bunch of people with bibs! I found a parking lot, with lots of bib wearers in it. I got the last spot - because I had a compact car and the space was tiny. There were a bunch of folks still behind me waiting to pay for parking.
I made it to the start line, after the horn had gone off. So, I was with a bunch of walkers. I learned - you can only go as fast as the pack around you. I did a bunch of walking during the race. I would jog when some space opened up, then walk when I hit a wall of people. Also, when we got to the top of the bridge, lots of folks stopped to take pictures. I offered to take them as well - so they could all be in the photos.
I finished in a little more than an hour. On the website it says 1:11, but Garmin says 1:04. I pushed start when I went over the start line.
It was 80 degrees at the end of the race. There was very little breeze, but the Navy sent a helicopter to the bridge. They hovered there for a while, and it made a GREAT breeze. I got some good pics from under the bridge.
I met some folks that are just starting a fitness routine - I wasn't the largest person on the bridge that day. I also wasn't the last person to finish. It looks like there were more than 350 people behind me.
At just after the 1 mile mark, the route goes up the bridge. It was cool to be there - because the road was very banked. There was a little boy, maybe 5 years old. He was telling his mom that he was too hot, and couldn't go any further. But, at the end of the race, he RAN past me to the finish line, so he caught up.
Towards the end, the path narrowed - we left the road and were on a biking/walking path. I decided to end the race running, and started to jog. Someone behind me was saying, "come on, we are almost there, let's do it, keep going, don't stop..." I thought, "Hey, I can do that, too." When we finished, a man came up to me and asked if I had heard him cheering me on. He told me I was his inspiration to finish. I know it is because I am large, but that was AOK. I was really happy to be someone's inspiration.
Hey - that is the second time someone has said that to me during a race. I forgot about the Shrewsbury race when the woman found me to run with her.
I was really glad to have done it. It felt great afterwards to say, I did it.
3 comments:
This sounds like an awesome run. Also I agree that it feels good to be motivation for people - I LOVE IT - that is why I do what I do. Because it's so much easier to be on the outside looking in and motivate. Remember what I said - being large has nothing to do with anything - a lot of people in this world haven't figured that out yet so it's a good thing sometimes to remind them or prove that point to them. As a firefighter we often have to do that with the "little people" because it's hard to believe that someone weighing 125 pounds with 60 pounds of gear on can also drag charged hoselines or 145 pound dummies....we all need that reminder sometimes that bring us back into reality. It's always mind over matter and you can do ANYTHING that you believe you can do. Awesome job!
Congratulations on a fantastic race!! I love that you've now been an inspiration to 2 total strangers, because at the same time you've also been an inspiration to the whole family.
Did you alo race in pink this time? Just curious, because B and I have standard racing clothes now that we wear for every race. :)
I did race in pink. And, someone commented on the great color - Not quite pink of breast cancer, but not quite purple either. I told them my super cool family found it for me and I wear it all the time to run because then I know my family is running with me.
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