RUN 4 THE HEALTH OF IT!

Hello all,
I wanted to tell you all about a race that I did on Labor Day this year. It is the Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians Foundation "Run 4 the Health of It" 4 mile race in Westerville, Ohio. This is the second year for the event. Last year my wife, Pam, ran it with her friend Karen. They had a great race and really enjoyed the course. My son also ran last year as well but in the shorter kids race, probably 200 yards or so.
This year he wanted to step up to the actual 4 mile race. I was very proud of him for wanting to take on this challenge on his own. My wife had planned to run it with him but when the forecast called for Rain, Rain, and more Rain she decided against it. I did not marry a woman whom is fond on ANY inclement weather. So I decided to run it instead. My son is only 12 so couldn't drive himself and running there as a warm-up was probably not wise.
We left about 7 a.m. or so as the race was to start at 8:30 and we had to still register and get warmed up. We got there and got registered and then warmed up for a mile or so and did a few strides (short, quick little bursts of speed) to awaken the muscles. As we made our way to the start line the skies looked a bit ominous and I was sure we would get wet at some point.
I asked my son if he wanted me to run with him to pace him and he said "No thanks Dad, you run your pace and do your best and I will too". That made me a proud Dad. I was proud that he was taking this races' challenge on his own terms.

THE RACE
As we were called to the line I got my son settled in a place toward the middle of the pack and I then went up toward the front. I felt like I wanted to get a quick start and then maybe settle down a bit. The gun went off and so did we. There was an early, first 200 yards, pack of about 10-12 runners out front and then myself, Leslie Dorado (whose husband is a member of COPCPF and hosts the race), and Doug Bean. I tucked in behind Leslie and Doug. I think I may have pulled once (meaning that I took the lead of us three and tried to offer some minimal draft and some pace) and then hung on for the ride. Leslie was having a good day and I stayed behind her and Doug the rest of the race.

FINE FEATHERED FRIENDS
As this race is in Westerville on a bike/running path that is around soccer fields there are always geese present. I don't know if geese like soccer or what but they are always there. Oh wait, I guess they eat the large expanse of grass to get fat for flying South in the winter. My bad. So if you have been to your kids (or someone else's) soccer game you know that there is goose dooky everywhere. Half of the battle is just dodging the slick little piles of poop. Next to impossible when you are focused on just running fast. That's where the lovely rain comes in. At about mile 2.5 of the 4 mile race it began to rain. Not a hard driving rain but enough to nicely cool us off and rinse the goose dooky from our shoes.



WHAT IS THAT NOISE?
I was able to keep a good pace and finished 15th overall (2nd in my age group) in a time of 25:23.
I then cooled down and ran the course backwards to look for my son. As I was running along I heard a noise that I can only describe as sounding like a goose was having an asthma attack while getting beaten with a 9 iron. "HONK, GASP, WHEESE, WHACK!" all at once though. I could not figure out what it was or where it was coming from but it sounded like it was getting closer as I was running along the course. As the noise got closer I finally figured out that it was coming from a person. It was an African American gentleman who was probably 60 or so who was making that noise with every footstep. He seemed to be running along just fine though. I asked if he was okay and if he needed help as I came upon him but he said "No thanks" and just kept running. I have been running for a long time and I can tell you that I have never heard or seen anything like that. Goes to show you that everyone has there own style of doing everything. People find a way of figuring out what works for them and jsut going with it. He didn't care what anyone thought of his style, he was just running, and I appreciate that independence.
I came on my son right after that gentleman noisemaker and ran the rest of the race with him. He was chuckling only the way a 12 year old boy can about the gentleman noisemaker in front of him. I asked if he heard it the whole way and he said, "Yes, he's been honking the whole way". I let him totaly dictate his own pace. I just asked him how he was doing and told him that I was incredibly proud of his race and was excited to see him finish. As we approached the finish line with about 300 yards to go I encouraged him to find another gear and hit the gas to see if he could pass the guy in front of him. I split off to the side of the course and ran in behind him to watch him beat that guy at the line. I was one proud Daddy. He finished 136th overall but 2nd in his age group in a time of 39:12. Way to go son!!
I'm telling you this story to relate a story of pride sprinkled in with some humor about a great Monday (Labor Day) morning between my son and I. I hope you have fun stories of pride that you can share with your running friends too.
See you next time.


By the way, any idea where that good looking young man got his ears?