The Race For the Cure has to be one of the most unique events I go to. I have heard a lot of competitive runners say they don’t like it due to the sheer numbers of people involved. It has 20,000 + people every year and you will spend more than a fair amount of time weaving around people who don’t know about starting line ettiqutte. You will see a woman in her 60’s with a pair of jeans and a bandanna tied around her neck lined up next to the six minute mile sign in the starting area. You will see packs of joggers, lined up 5 abreast in matching shirts in front of a couple of speedy kids who have never done this course before.
But, this race is not one to enter for a PR or push the pace. This is one to enter to be part of an amazing event. The event raises money and awareness for breast cancer, something which has affected a woman in all of our lives. You will see lots of people running with pink squares pinned to their backs. Each of these is to honor a survivor in their life, or to celebrate the memory of a loved one lost. Thousands of survivors do the event in their pink shirts so everyone knows who they are and can cheer them on. At the end of the race, they are treated to a special “survivors village” of extra goodies.
I have done this race a few times, and was well aware that this is a tough place to attempt a PR or go for the gusto. My long time running partner Jon wanted to crack the elusive 20 minute 5K barrier. This will be his third attempt, and he should be admired, because he doesn’t choose easy courses, he takes on whatever is in his way and goes head on. In this particular race, I agreed to be his pacer, since I have done it a few times now and have the Garmin 305 keeping pace readily available. On race morning, Jon showed up in full force, but with a cold running full force in him. I asked if we wanted to dial it down, but to his credit, he wanted to push it anyway. The hilly course and his illness didn’t slow him down… for the first 2.4 miles. It finally caught up to him, and we had to let the pace come down a bit, but hung on for a 20:50 finish. It’s amazing to think that sick and hilly, we can do this, as ten years ago, neither of us could have ran the entire course without walking.
Big props goes to my girlfriend, Erin, who completed her first ever 5K and declared herself free of the couch of doom. Less than two months ago, she decided to tackle the 5K. We worked out a training schedule and she was ready come race day. My original plan was to finish my run, and turn around and run back down the course to hopefully catch her and cheer her up the last hill and watch her cross the finish line. Due to multiple factors, I didn’t get to do either of these, but I am still so proud of her. The running bug has her, and now she is committed to doing the San Antonio Half-Marathon this November.
But the biggest props go to all the survivors. Congrats to those ladies (and a few survivormen) who have beaten breast cancer and come to the race as an inspiration to the rest of us.
