The most exciting thing about this particular race was, that I was doing it with my 11-year old daughter. Her very first 5k. And, she is not particularly fond of running. (See my previous blog, "give anything but up"!) I figured if there was ever a 5k that would get her excited about running - this was it!
We drove to the race early Saturday morning. I wanted to get there plenty early, because we had to pick up our packets and I wasn't sure how many people we would be dealing with. Wow! My first sign that this was not just another small, local footrace was the long line of cars at the exit on the freeway! It was hundreds of cars long and was moving at a snail's pace. Once we got to the event site, we were greeted my miles and miles of more cars, barricades, police directing traffic. I chuckled and whispered to myself, "we are not in Kansas anymore!" I started to worry as I looked at the clock and looked at the long line of people who were in line to pick up their packets. There was no way that we were all going to get our packets and take off from the starting line within the alloted time frame.
Well, the check-in line moved surprisingly fast. Once we got up to the front, another sign that this was not your usual race - our bib numbers were 12, 992 and 12.993. Then, an announcement over the loudspeaker said, "We have over 15,000 runners signed up for today's race...so, please make your way to the start line if you have already checked in." My heart did a somersault! The thought of 15,000 people taking off at the same time sent chills through my body. I was suddenly fearing for our lives.
After getting our packet, complete with our very own color packet to throw in the air at the finish, we found our way to the shortest port-a-potty line we could find. As I was standing in line, I overheard someone say that because there were so many people, they were going to start the run in waves. I looked down at my bib and realized there was no timing chip. I asked a guy next to me if the race was going to be timed. He sort of laughed and said, "No, there are way too many people to time it." Suddenly, my heart landed in place and stopped turning circles in my chest. A 5k that didn't clock your time? But, we had (sorta) trained for this. I had even set a personal goal for my daughter. Now, you are telling me that we can just have fun? We don't have to worry if we want to stop and walk or take photos? Wow. I sure wish someone had told me that earlier - it would have saved me a lot of unnecessary worry. All of a sudden, I wasn't scared anymore. I knew this was going to be a fun, memorable day for my girl. It was now all about HAVING a good time instead of GETTING a good time. I could suddenly breathe, relax and enjoy the ride.
all clean and ready to go!
So, we made our way over to the start line. Somehow, we ended up finding our friends (another mom/daughter duo) amongst the mass of people. And, we took off.
It was great! We ran, we talked, we walked, we stopped for water, took pictures, we got covered in color at each K - Blue, Orange, Yellow, Green and Pink.
At one point, I got too far ahead and lost my daughter in the sea of people and color. So, I stopped, ran backwards and waited until I found her, letting thousands of folks pass me by (something I wouldn't have done, had the race been timed!) I finally saw her round the corner, her tutu and pony tail bobbing up and down. I was so relieved! We ran to the finish line, hand in hand (I wasn't going to take a chance losing her again!). Our first, of many mother/daughter runs, I hope!
"It's not about GETTING a good time. It's about HAVING a good time."
How fun! Glad you had a good time.
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