Wednesday, June 27, 2007

There's Gonna Be a Riot If You Don't Clap Your Hands.


On Thurs, June 21st I "ran" my first "marathon": The JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge. To clarify, I walked most of the way (jogged a little bit) AND it was only 3.5 miles but hey, i'd never done anything like this before...it was a huge accomplishment for me. I was so nervous and worried that i'd fall out halfway thru the race. (It was actually a real race; i simply did not want to come in last).
The race was in Central Park and the proceeds were to benefit the Central Park Conservancy. Each company that entered participants had tents and tables sent up for pre- and post-race activities. Walking around the tent area actually kinda felt like being at a huge family reunion. Except there were thousands of people milling around. In fact, the NYC race was such a huge success that it had to be split into 2 days in order to accommodate the over 30,000 participants that signed up.
The real runners were in front, and by the time i took this photo, they'd probably already finished. I remember at one point, i was walking along chatting with my coworkers and I thought about how it felt like we were on a march. It seemed like we should have had signs and banners...
When i passed this 3-mile marker, I was SO excited...i finished the race about 8 minutes later. My official time was 1:10:10. I ran across the finish line with my arms in the air ...i had sore calves and achy Achilles tendons but I felt amazing. I now understood why some people enter every marathon that they can. For me personally, I've often had a terrible track record of not finishing what i started but that night, i finished.

3 comments:

Piscean Princess said...

[clapping]

Congratulations! That's very cool. And quite an accomplishment.

[still clapping - don't shoot!]

BTW, you are quite the little rock star over @ Dr. Marc's today! always broadcasting your email addy for the whole world (including that poor child, tavius) to see.

[STILL clapping, but shaking head & making the face]

Anonymous said...

*takes bow*. there's a breast cancer walk coming up and i might enter that one too!

girl I don't even know what to do about that Tavius! When he said that we are supposed to IGNORE racism, I was through! What can you possibly say to somebody like that? He's crazy.

Piscean Princess said...

I have been stressed out by tavious all day...as if Tom Penn and Garrett aren't enough! Lawd ha' mercy - it's one thing to have a dissenting opinion, but he came up in there like we were burning crosses in his parents' yard!!

hopefully he'll accept the hug you offered...

after my girlfriend's marathon last year I was thinking that might be something fun to do, provided I find a cause that I can get excited about. still haven't found it, but there's still hope.