I was pretty nervous about this one because I haven't seriously run since the Berbee Derby on Thanksgiving Day. I ran 4.5 miles last weekend, though, so I was pretty sure I could hack it. Other than walking up a huge hill, the race went really, really well. It felt great. Here are the quick highlights:
1. There was a dude wearing pajama pants and Chuck Taylors. It made me mad at first, but then I thought he was awesome. His friend had a fake mullet, so that was awesome, too.
2. I made an agreement with myself to give anybody that asked a high-five. Including a guy on stilts. And a famous person that I'll reveal later.
3. With about 1/2 a mile left, there were two big speakers setup at a house and they were blaring the end music from Rocky. I started to tear-up even while thinking, "This is SOOOO corny!" I'm going to blame it on exhaustion.
4. The race ended at the 50 yard-line of Camp Randall, the home of the Wisconsin Badger football team. As we were running toward the entrance ramp, I saw Barry Alvarez (former head coach) and his wife walking away from the venue. He was not offering high-fives, but I wanted one and couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I hopped out of line, ran toward him and stuck my hand out. He looked surprised at first, but then stuck his hand out with a smile and slapped mine as I ran by. Then security tackled me. Just kidding.
5. Running into the stadium was a trip. There were literally thousands of people cheering in the stands. What a rush!
6. After grabbing a water, an older guy with one arm bumped into me and we shook hands and congratulated each other on our fine one-handed runs. What are the odds?
7. Then I walked up the stairs and got my free beer and banana. Long live the great state of Wisconsin!
After that, my wife and kids miraculously found me. Probably should have setup a rendezvous point.
I'll get some pictures up later, as well as my official time. (UPDATE: 55:40! Well under my 60 minute goal. Super happy about it.) Overall, it was a great, great experience and I plan on doing it again next year!
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The other exciting news is that I won a scholarship for a poetry class I applied for a few weeks ago! Sage Cohen, author of Writing the Life Poetic (which I got for Christmas), is the teacher and I'm totally pumped to learn with her. Checkout the announcement here: http://www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com/ (I chatted her on Facebook and confirmed it's me and not some other person with only one A in their last name. hehe) I've wanted to take a poetry class for some time now, but haven't had the finances to do so, so this is incredible.
What an outstanding day. I'm a very happy boy.
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