So I ran a 10K.......

My Memories/Thoughts/Observations during the Nike+ 10K Human Race in New York City

12.) Conformity. Never have I seen so many red shirts (Two thoughts: sounds a bit communist, aye? and well, for that matter, so many shirts of the same color) in one place, at one time. According to the powers that be (Nike), there were around 10,000 runners, nearly all wearing red. We probably looked like a throng of giant red-orange centipedes, with spots. (Some runners just came to run in the event, not the race, and subsequently were not attired like the rest– apparently if you had the Nike+ getup you could run with the crowd and while your time wouldn’t count for the race, it would count with all the other Nike+ runners.

11.) Why the hell were we running on one of the poorest First World courses ever thought up? It’s NYC for crying out loud, not the back alleys of some high-range dying municipality, and it’s Nike, not some poor low-end sneaker company just starting out. Nike, you have plenty to spend; if you’re going to tout something like the “World’s Largest One Day Running Event,” at least get the logistics in order so consumers/runners don’t associate “fool” with your brand.

10.) Darnit how I hate people running in brand-new running shoes on race day. If you’re running, then you worked hard (or at least I would hope you had) to get up the stamina to run for 6.2 miles, let it show people! At least don’t give off the appearance that the idea to run in this race just popped into your little noggin at the last minute and off you bustled to the closest Finish Line to pick up the newest and brightest pair of the latest Nikes on the shelf. *Sarah bursts into flames in moment of last-straw fury* Darnit I worked hard, ran in pain and rain, and heat and suffered the frustration of loved ones who would love to have a life that wasn’t determined by “So, how many miles today?” I can’t stand it to have someone breeze past me in blindingly new sneaks; makes me feel like you can do anything on a whim and I have to bust my butt and I still can’t keep up! Blast it I’m smokin’ again.

9.) So many people! I got passed lots of times but I still managed to stay in the middle of the pack. This was just a long run with benefits for me so I didn’t really care at all about my time (which is good, as my time was apparently slower than a walkers’), but man alive did I get passed! And each time I thought I was near the rear of this chaos, I turned around and saw hundreds of runners behind me, eating my dust.

9.A) Okay, okay, the “eating my dust” bit was probably too much, but still, I’m not going to sugar it any, it was nice to look back and see tons of runners behind me. I know they probably didn’t get to start for 10 minutes after my group began… I know they’re probably the walkers who just decided to jog for a bit. I KNOW! Just being real though; if you’ve ever run a race in which you weren’t sure at all how you would compare to the other runners, I know you’ve thought the same thing. Go ahead and pray for my wretched soul.

8.) Holy Crap we’re stuck on a bridge. (See #9) Turns out someone didn’t think through mathematics of 10,000 people running over a maximum-4-person-wide bridge right before the Laps 2 and finish split. (Granted not all 10,000 were trying to cross at the same time, only say, 300 or so.) In order to instill a semblance of order, staff members were screaming at the people who were crossing, “Lap 1 TO THE LEFT, LAP 2 TO THE RIGHT.” Which makes sense except for one little tiny detail: Anyone crossing the bridge was ending their Lap 1 or headed to the finish line, which was a right past the bridge. So there were people finishing Lap 1 who were told the aforementioned and subsequently headed to the right, straight into the stadium for the finish and an amazing race time. Utter chaos. Oh, and need I mention the knee-high wooden benches along the left of the bridge? No warning whatsoever except for the sudden sideways movement of the person in front of you. Good times.

7.) Oh wow is Michael hot. In all absolute seriousness, those were my thoughts each time I ran by him. The first time I found him he was just after the bridge and since we were all past the “TO THE LEFT”, I was able to swing into the empty space on the right just past the split and wave hello and somehow manage to start running after my knees turned to jell-o and I couldn’t find my breath. (While one might think I was breathless from the race I was running it is to be recalled that this was just after the bridge where we had taken a 10min break to shuffle across, plenty of time to ease the heart-rate back down). The second time I was jarred from my focus by the lithe young man with smoldering blue eyes and a strong jaw occurred after the split and as I was heading into the finish. Handsome was waiting for me to come around and managed to get in a picture or two and some encouraging words. Am I a lucky woman or what? I have my very own McStudly who not only thinks I’m hot while running a race, but roots me on to the finish; talk about a prize!

6.) Woo Running in New York! Look at that sexy skyline, ain’t she a beeeaut! Glory be I’m running in NYC! I really wanted to be like the runners from other countries who had pinned their national flag to the back of the shirt, which in my case would be the Ohio pennant. Not as cool but definitely a statement to make. I did hold back the urge to ask people around me where they were from just so I could nod and then proudly state “oh, cool, I’m from Ohio and inwardly giggle gleefully since it looks like I traveled so far just to run in this race. Which, upon reflection, makes it seem borderline pathetic…

5.) If one more staff members screams “TO THE LEFT” I am going to whack-chop them in the knee. Which means I will obligingly duck my head and pull an Italian*.

4.) Hey, I’ve just passed 5 miles and that girl with the pink shorts who freaking keeps slowing down to a walk just to pick.up.the.run.right.before.I.catch.up. Eat my dust, Red Shorts Girl.

3.) If the expected 1,000,000 runners actually signed up for the race and paid the entrance fee, $5 of which goes to your choice of one of three charities, we just raised $5,000,000 for charity. Plus, runners could raise money for the charities by signing up people to pledge money for each mile ran in training and in the race.

2.) Two words: Finish Line! I had paced myself so well that I upped the ante the last two miles and finished really strong. There were two girls ahead who I locked onto as the runners to beat and I caught them and finished ahead!

1.) Wow. I just ran a 10K with 10,000 other people in the Big Apple.
Now, where is my studly hubby? Give me some sugar, Baby!



*Going all Italian on someone means to get thisclose to them while in a line and then continue on with any conversation or in-line activity. Ask Michael about the Empire State Building!