"We Run To Be...Finishers!""I Run To Be..." was the Nike slogan for yesterday's race. Along the course there were signs finishing the statement. For example: I run to be...fit, a better mom, sexy, strong, powerful, content, committed, a survivor, inspired, etc.
This year was especially fun because almost everyone on The "A" Team had a good race. Which made for lots of happy faces at the finish line. And The "A" Team is growing! While the photo at left only shows 6 of us (7 if you include Maria's head), there were actually 18 "A" Team Runners in the Nike run this year!
For someone as crowd phobic as I am, it's amazing that I love this race so much. 20,000 runners is mass congestion no matter how well they organize the event. But, somehow despite the chaos and even when it started to rain we all powered through and loved the experience.
Yesterday was Jennifer Bryan's first full marathon and she aced it (3:42!) and qualified for Boston! Yay! I love that Jennifer is a dear friend to me but also a dear friend to my girls! They adore her and I'm grateful for them to see the busy life of a young mom, especially one who is so grounded and so good.
And, personally, as a much older mom these days, I'm just grateful I can still run along with all these youngsters. "Along" isn't really true, perhaps "behind" these youngsters is more accurate. But as I get older I feel less driven competitively and more content to just keep plugging along as long as my legs can stay at it!
"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." -George Sheehan
