Well, I've completed my half-marathon for June. It was a quirky little race, but I did it. There were separate bibs for men and women, there were no souvenirs for the half-marathon, and they were hyper-crazy about not wearing headphones. But the weather was nice and I finished, so it ended up okay.Today's race had a totally unexpected reward. It all started because this race has a rule about maintaining a 14-minute mile. For many of you, this would be like crawling. For me, this is the upper level of my current race pace. Since I haven't really done much of anything since early May, this pace seemed a little adventurous, but I decided to go for it anyway.
At 6:30 am, when the starter's bullhorn went off signaling the start of the race, I set out. My race strategy is pretty simple: jog as much as my-bodily possible, try to catch up with someone ahead of you, and always have someone behind you. Today I knew pace was utmost, so I kept my eye out for someone I could follow to insure my finishing on time.
About Mile 6, I had settled on one lady. She wore a Twin Cities race club singlet and was obviously on a run/walk system, but at every mile she checked her watch, so I knew she was keeping the required pace. I always kept her in sight - sometimes she was ahead, and a few times I would get ahead of her. On a steep hill, I asked her a few questions, her answers being (1) this was the first time she had done Duluth so she didn't know if this was the only hill, and (2) she was from Minneapolis. We journeyed on, keeping the same I'm ahead/You're ahead plan.
I felt we were doing pretty good. HOWEVER, at mile 12, the chip RaceNazis were out, cutting off the chips of those of us who were currently passing through. They said they HAD to cut off our chips, which they did, then handed them to us (these were one-time chips that we were supposed to keep anyway). We were all dumbfounded, didn't know what to say, so we just kept running. I asked another runner if we were still going to get a medal and the finisher shirt (my main reason for finishing) and she said she thought so.
I had gotten ahead of Minneapolis, but soon heard her come running up behind me. At about a quarter mile to go, we were to turn a sharp curve. I noticed Minneapolis cutting across the curve through the spectator crowd. My first reaction was to think that she was cutting off the curve to save time. However, as I rounded the curve, I saw that she was with her family/friends and was obviously upset. She was shaking her head, intending to quit the race.
I simply could not have that. Here we were, within sight of the finish - she just couldn't quit now. So, I yelled over for her to come on, to which she said no. But with her friends/family encouragement and my big mouth, she reluctantly decided to rejoin the race. By this time, the finish was in sight. I asked her if she wanted to run it in, and she said, "No, but you go ahead." I couldn't leave her, so we walked together until the last few yards, when we did run it in.
We went to receive our medals - Minneapolis grudgingly took hers, but said she didn't want the finisher shirt (I, of course, did - I finished, didn't I?). She was angry, and rightfully so. She knew her pace was right on, and she got robbed. But I'm glad she decided to finish - although she was robbed of her time, she wasn't robbed of her victory. I'm sure her anger will last awhile, but I hope her sense of pride about her achievement wins out.
In this race, I received my medal and my t-shirt. I won't get a finish time, but I know I completed the half-marathon. But the greatest thing I received was the opportunity to encourage someone who was giving up into continuing to achieve her goal. No finish time could ever compare to that joy.
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