Race #2: Sandy Hook Run for the Families

3-27-13

Saturday marked my second race of the season.  I was a little nervous running in it because I was extremely sore from the Boot Camp class I did on Thursday evening.  I don't think I ever jumped so much in one day then I did for that class.  As a result, I woke up on Friday morning with very tight calves and hamstrings, and two unhappy Achilles' tendons.  I took Friday off to recover and decided to inflict more pain on myself by foam rolling my posterior chain in an effort to relax those knots.  It worked a little and I woke up Saturday less sore, but still feeling like my calves could pop off if they wanted to.

I arrived in Hartford at 9:00am and the city was a zoo.  The city, which is usually barren, was filled with 15,000 runners, and even more spectators to take part in this amazing event to support a community that was stricken with an unspeakable horror three months ago.  Luckily, I registered early enough so that my race bib was sent to my house, so I didn't to stand in line for an hour to pick it up.  I was able to grab my complimentary tshirt without a wait, and find a warm place to hang out before the race started at 10:30am.

Now, I am using the word "run" for a reason.  This event wasn't set up like any other race I have participated in.  It was sold out, overcrowded, and the majority of the participants were not in it to run.  This event was a successful fundraiser for a community and the run portion was just an added benefit.  With that being said, it would be frustrating to think of it as a race, as I quickly found out shortly after the starting gun, but more on that in a little bit.

Me and the BF found a warm place to chill before the run: Vaughn's.  This fantastic Irish bar opened early and sold breakfast sandwiches, warm beverages, and, of course: BEER! to runners and spectators.  Of course, part of the proceeds went to the Sandy Hook fund, so we couldn't pass on some delicious pre-run Guinness....it's 5 o'clock somewhere, right??

As I said before, this event was sold out.  There were 15,000 people taking part in the run, which meant it was going to be a very crowded course.  Participants were asked to line up on perpendicular streets by race time in an effort to get the faster runners out ahead of the slower runners, walkers, kids, and strollers.  Just like most "best laid plans of mice and men", this one also went "awry" (oh! see that high school English literature sneaking up in here?!?).  Needless to say, I spent a good amount of time after the starting gun walking, slowly, toward to start, and then spent the rest of the run dodging people and making more lateral moves than a NFL safety.  It was frustrating at first, but I reminded myself that this was a "run" not a true "race", and I did the best I could to avoid slow runners, walkers, children, and strollers.  I made a game out of it in my head, trying to strategically think of ways to weave myself around people and objects.  I even tried a little Parkour or free-running, and jumped from street to sidewalk back to the street in order to advance myself.  Despite all my fancy moves, I finished about 30 seconds slower than my race the previous weekend, clocking in at an even 29:00 min.  With the amount of people there, I'll take it.

Here's to the next phase of my running adventure: 10K distance!