Events of 2008
by w. Patrick Gale
Upcoming Events
Raven Rock Ramble Bike Tour - May 4th
Over the Mountain (Olympic distance) Triathlon - May 31st
Blood Sweat and Gears Bike Tour - June 28th
Marine Corp Marathon (5th attempt) - Oct. 26th
Franklin 10 miler
This was my first big run of the year. I secured a sponsor race entry through the School of Public Health, who was sponsoring the event. I was shooting for a sub 1:30 finish and was able to squeeze a 1:23:46 run time. I placed 93/236 overall and 8/16 in the age group division.
I spent the rest of the afternoon volunteering at the
SkirtChaser 5k in Raleigh. Women wore skirts for the run and were given a 3 minute head start over the men who had to 'chase' the skirts; hence the race name. This was a fun event to just watch and support.
April 26, 2008
Running of the Lights 5K
Waiting patiently for the signal, I stood staring ahead down the dark tunnel lit only by a small string of holiday lights along the road. The lights did little to pierce the darkness surrounding them, but merrily pointed the way for any who wished to follow the path. I wondered if my body was ready for what I was about to force upon it, but I was itching to find out. Those standing around me were getting anxious as well. We were all ready for the change. The change of a new year.It was New Year's Eve and none of my friends were around. I had blown them all off for what is known as 'waiting for the best offer to come along'. Of course they probably all knew that I would hold out until the last minute to make my decision. This year was no different. However I knew I had to take care of business with myself this night. I thought of friends though as I stood outside in the cold winter air and quietly wished them a happy new year.
The idea of running a 5k on New Years, that started at midnight, sounded perfect when I found it online and being able to run through the festival of lights sounded like fun. I had wanted to go dancing but knew my 'smoke free' options were limited and my snobbish view towards DJ venues would lead me nowhere, so I didn't bother looking. It was 8pm when I decided to do the run so I had to high-tail it out of Chapel Hill in time to get to the race site which was over an hour away on the west side of Winston-Salem.
As I stood behind the start line with hundreds of others in front of me I failed to really analyze how far back I was in the pack. I was just too caught up in the moment. I also failed to consider that I might be running through the dark this evening and it failed to dawn on me why people were walking around with their LED headlamps on. I was off in my own world. At the stroke of midnight, we were released into the darkness, and I found out soon why some had their headlamps on.
During the first half-mile I snaked my way through the masses, pushing my legs to the limit. As we wound our way down a hill, the road became darker and shadows started playing tricks on us. What might have looked like a bottomless pit in front of you was nothing more but fresh asphalt. One particular shadow in the road was not a bottomless pit nor a fresh asphalt patch. The zig-zag pattern that cut across the dark mound in the road finally registered but it was too late. The mound of asphalt formed by the tree root pushing up under the left side of the road found its victim. A body to the left of me passed over the mount and struck the pavement hard. Another body soon followed as I turned around to see the masses piling up. I turned back to the road in front of me and realized there were other hazards in the road. I started yelling and pointing at holes as I passed them while barely missing them myself.
Soon we were running through the festival of lights and the road hazards disappeared. There were lights everywhere. We ran though a tunnel of falling red and white snoe-flake lights. In a lake there were lights shaped like a loch ness monster and animated fish jumping and spashing in the water. There were lights of figures running and biking, and elves loading canons that fired bursts of light across a field into a display of fireworks. Of course since the festival of lights was sponsored by Chik-fil-a, there were large banners proclaiming 'eat more chickin'.
After the race I turned around and started back down the course in the direction I had just come. I found a spot on top of the final hill just before the finish line, and started cheering. I cheered and clapped for strangers I didn't know. I cheered on their final sprint to the finish and told them to give it one last push, for they were almost home. I took in all the faces, young and old, strained and happy, bloody and sweaty. Some runners, feeding off the cheers, picked up their pace and tried to pass the competitors around them. Others, content with their own pace and minds off in their own world, strolled peacefully by. After the last of the runners made their way through the finish line I walked to the middle of a large field and huddled around a table with the other runners who were steaming more than the cups of of hot chocolate in their hands.
It was nice breaking away from the football games and just sitting behind a television watching others partying in Times Square. It was refreshing out under the stars on that cold winter evening and a fun beginning to the activities of the new year.
January 1, 2008
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