I Finally Ran the DARE!

Saturday I finally ran the DARE 5K.

The night before the race, my sister Diane, niece Camille, nephew Tommy, husband Steve and of course dog Tabby walked to the bottom of College Hill so Tommy could see what was in store for him Saturday morning. Tommy lives in Liverpool and recklessly agreed to run the 5K with me having never seen the hill up to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC). He would have liked to walk all the way up it, but was overruled. We went for a long walk anyways, walking by the finish line and through Meyers Park, because Camille likes parks.

Saturday morning I walked over to the corner of Main and Church streets to pick up our numbers. Registration was in Christ Episcopal Church, which is the church I go to. They were just setting up. A lady told me pre-registrations were at 190, and they were expecting more registrations that day. Along with our numbers we got t-shirts, re-usable bags, and a few other goodies. Very nice for a $20 registration fee. Tabby, who had accompanied me, made a few new friends before we walked back to our house.

I love these smaller community runs. Of course the Boilermaker is exciting and overwhelming, but a smaller run is so relaxed and friendly. And an event walking distance from my house is awesome. No worries where to park the car!

The Youth Fun Run took place at 8:30 am. This was limited to children under 12, but parents were allowed to accompany them. I saw a few 5K numbers running along with the young participants. I thought that would be a great warm-up and made up my mind to do that next year, if possible, with my niece Camille. Everybody cheered the young runners as they came in. Some were very young. The littlest couldn’t have been more than two. Her father was carrying her. I yelled, “Good assist!” She ran the last few steps. What a cutie! Finally it was time for my event.

The start line was further down Main Street, almost at German. I was feeling plenty nervous by now. I don’t know why. I kept saying, “After all, somebody has to finish last. It might as well be me. People can laugh and point.” Several people assured me that even if I was last, people would cheer not laugh, and Tommy was of the opinion that I would not be last.

“Just don’t walk,” he advised me. “However slow you run, just don’t walk.” Good advice. In fact, that is my usual method.

Once we started the run was a lot of fun. Tommy took off strong, and I soon lost sight of him. I daresay I could have gotten a better time if I didn’t wave to the people on the sidelines cheering us on. Of course the cheering sections were not as big as at the Boilermaker (why do I feel I must compare every run to that?), but I was impressed with the number of people along the way shouting encouragement. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I also like to call out remarks as I run. I didn’t feel much like doing that as I ran up College Hill (although I felt proud of the fact that I did not walk, as others did), but on the way down I shouted, “Gravity is my friend!”

“I think it’s everybody’s friend about now,” another runner said.

When we reached the off-road portion, I yelled, “I always wanted to know where this path went! I’m all excited!” I guess I was feeling a little high after the uphill exertion. A small group was cheering for us at the turn to the path. “Thank you for your support!” I told them.

There were a couple of uphill portions on the path, which I took exception to. At the top of College Hill, somebody had posted a sign saying it was all downhill from there. I believed it, but it was a lie! Other runners did not seem to feel these little upslopes were a problem, so I suppose I was just being that way.

After a while, a runner way ahead of me turned around and said, “Don’t stop, Aunt Cindy, you’re almost there!” I immediately suspected Tommy had walked, or I would never have gotten that close. Then again, he was definitely still ahead of me.

“Good job, Tommy!” I yelled.

Later on German Street I did catch up with him. We passed Bellinger. “Just Prospect, then Main,” I told him, giving him benefit of my familiarity with the geography. We almost caught up with another runner who turned around when he heard our feet. “Don’t look back, just keep going, you’re almost there,” I encouraged. He did, and I did not come close to him again.

Once we got on Main Street, Tommy took off and left me in the dust. I sprinted at the end too. And I see now my word count is over 800. This is the longest post ever! This is about a 5K, not a marathon! Is anybody still reading? I’ll finish up about the DARE 5K tomorrow. Remember, we left me approaching the finish line!