Fueled With Inspiration: How a Weekend of Running Filled My Heart
This past weekend I made some questionable choices. Actually, I made those choices a few weeks back but this weekend I acted on said questionable choices; choices that my hips, knees and feet are currently recovering from. I signed up for a half marathon on Saturday and then thought I’d run a 5k the day after. And if that wasn’t crazy enough, I caught a bug of sorts the week leading up to the runs and showed up to both starting lines under the weather (pretty sure I had a low-grade fever on half marathon morning) with a lack of nutrition my body needed for these runs and not to mention severely under-hydrated. So yea, not the best health and fitness decision I’ve ever made - but also not the worst. :)
Anywho…. I’m not here to give you a play-by-play of my runs. I’m here to share with you how in awe I was of the participation for both runs. Let me start out with this - Runners are so damn encouraging! And so are their families who line the course cheering on not just their runner but ALL the runners. And quite frankly, the cowbells are my favorite.
Saturday morning I ran in the Hot Cider Hustle in Milwaukee. It was along a wooded path with vibrant autumn colors all around us. Both a half marathon (13.2 miles) and a 5k (3.1 miles) were taking place at the same time. When the horn went off indicating the start of the race, 1,607 people took off: 630 were running the half and 977 were running the 5k. It was an out and back course for both races so at four different points in the race you were going to pass other runners in your race. There were SO MANY PEOPLE. I remember thinking about halfway through the race - these people could be doing anything else right now in the comfort of their warm homes (it was pretty chilly that morning) but they all decided to show up for this run - and that is pretty cool. At mile 4 I noticed some pain in my right foot and I had been constantly blowing my nose up to that point that I ran out of tissues (yes, I packed tissues in my jacket) and I had nothing left to help me get to the end of the race without snot running down my chin. But I kept going. The cheers from the sidelines were positive reinforcement. About mile 9 I called my husband and said, “do you have 10 minutes to talk to me? I’m ready to quit and I don’t want to quit.” Being the amazing husband that he is started talking to me about breathing patterns and helping me through the last of the energy I had left when I knew I was at my breaking point. I knew I was not sufficiently nourished at this exact moment. And the foot pain was the cherry on top that was telling me - go ahead and quit. I’ve never dropped out of a race before but I was close. We hung up at mile 11. I had made it to the last turnaround spot and headed back to the finish line. So I was passing all the people who were behind me in the race. And they must have seen the anguish on my face as I worked towards finishing those last 2.2 miles. They were cheering me on as I passed them. They were giving a thumbs up to me. I remember thinking - WOW… they are behind me but giving me the fuel I need to make this last little bit. The closer I got to the finish line there were people standing on the sides with their medals (they already finished - I was so envious) but they were also yelling “YOU GOT THIS!” And “YOU’RE ALMOST TO THE FINISH!” I guess the was the extra kick I needed because it got me to speed up my pace and get me to the finish line. I was done. As I stood there panting and feeling like death I just looked around. Again, so many people were there just having a good time. They were talking with one another - sheer strangers telling each other “good job” and enjoying the post run festivities. At that point I realized I needed tissues because my sleeves were covered in snot - yup… had to! - and I went to the car and grabbed my tissues and headed back to the festivities for some hot apple cider. Another half marathon completed.
That leads me to my 5k this morning. I left my AirBnB at 7am to dive to Oconomowoc for The Pumpkin Run. Again, this race offered two distances: a 5k (what I ran seeing as I ran a half the day before) and a 10k (6.2 miles). Maybe because this run was located in more residential area in what I consider to be the cutest town in the whole state of Wisconsin but it felt like there were more people at this race than at the day before’s race. But there were only a mere 723 (525 in the 5k and 198 in the 10k) people running in this race. And it was much colder this morning than it was the day before. This course was also an our and back course except the 10k runners had to do an extra loop. I knew there were a lot of runners at the start but when we did our turnout and started back towards the finish line the waves of runners I was passing was absolutely insane. It was like the line never ended. It warmed my heart (which I needed at the time) to see people of all ages in the run; parents with their kids, grandparents with their grandchildren, couples, people with their dogs. You had everyone from the avid runner to the walker pushing a stroller or pulling a wagon enjoying a brisk morning walk. People in the residential neighborhoods stood on their lawns waving. I had this sense of pride - even thought I didn’t know a single person there - that all of these people were out with their friends and families being active - without worrying about their speed, time, placement or fear of being judged. They were there to be a part of the community. Again…. I was completely in awe of this phenomenon of community support for health and wellness (on a cold day at that) and I am pretty sure it was the fuel that pushed me to give it my all because I ran one heck of a time. It was 1 second slower than my fastest 5k. And that’s a day after running 13.2 miles.
Needless to say, I was fueled with inspiration: how a weekend of running filled my heart. And my hope for you is that you join this crazy trend (just kidding, it’s not actually a trend, but it by being a trend or something trendy that gets you to join the movement, than so be it) and get out there with your friends or family or just your pet to be a part of the community. These events are fun. There is always swag like t-shirts, medals, sometimes beer (my favorite part), post run snacks, post run festivities, etc. And you don’t have to be a runner. Let me repeat that: YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A RUNNER! I did some math based on the two runs this weekend to prove that you don’t have to be fast or run at all to take part in these events.
Hot Cider Hustle | ||
Races | 5k | Half Marathon |
# of Participants | 977 people | 630 people |
Last Finisher’s Time | 1 hr 19 min 9 sec | 3 hrs 30 min 4 sec |
Random Time Selected | 40 minutes or longer | 3 hours or longer |
# of people who finished after time selected | 256 people finished after the 40 min mark | 18 people finished after the 3 hr mark |
Pace for Time Selected | 12 min 52 sec pace to finish in 40 min | 13 min 38 sec pace to finish in 3 hrs |
Pumpkin Run | ||
Races | 5k | 10k |
# of Participants | 525 people | 198 people |
Last Finisher’s Time | 1 hr 25 min 6 sec | 1 hr 45 min 52 sec |
Random Time Selected | 40 minutes or longer | 1 hour 10 minutes or longer |
# of people who finished after time selected | 157 people finished after the 40 min mark | 32 people finished after the 1 hr 10 min mark |
Pace for Time Selected | 12 min 52 sec pace to finish in 40 min | 11 min 16 sec pace to finish in 1 hr 10 min |
So please don’t ever feel like you shouldn’t sign up for these events. They are for everyone! And if you ever need suggestions on local races, or want to get out there and start a coach to 5k program just ask me. I am happy to help on all fronts.
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