I wasn't running because my foot was still bothering me. I knew about the race because Deanne told me about it - she tells me about all the races that are coming up. In fact, if I don't get at least 3 emails from Deanne a week about this 5K or that road run, I would feel lost. She runs in most of them, too. For example, a couple of weeks ago, she did a 5K on Friday nite in Washington Park (23:56) at 6 PM, then a 10K on the bike path along the Hudson River at 8:30 AM the next morning (50:14) and then ran a 5K with Jen M the same morning at 10 AM! I think she would have run on Sunday, too, except they did a little too much celebrating of Jen's birthday on Saturday nite! Ah, Sweet Bird of Youth....
Anyway, I no sooner got to the The Crossing when I heard some familiar voices - Jess and Christina from my swim class at the Guilderland Y were there, along with Marilyn, also from the Y.
Jess - "Are you running?"
Me - "No - my foot still hurts."
Jess - "So you're a funner."
Me - " ? "
Jess - " A funner. You're not a runner, so you're just here for fun - a funner."
Turns out she was even more right than I thought. Everywhere I turned, I found people I knew, and of course, I talked with all of them.
Donna and Deanne and Jen M, were there, and Donna's brother Rick and his daughter Cheyenne.
And Sara P from work and her boy friend, Tom. Turns out Tom had run the Boston Marathon, too - pretty good runner - he was 9 minutes ahead of Lance Armstrong at the 30 K mark - I looked it up. I introduced Sara to a lot of the people I knew there. More on Sara and Tom later.
I was pleased to see my good friend Kelly there. She was with Roxanne, also from the Y.
Greg, who I met at the dinner the night before the Spring Runoff, was there.
And then, Out of the Blue of the Western Sky (or some sky), Captain Mike! He had just gotten into the Albany Airport from his week of pilot duty - just gotten back from San Jose, and he had driven the quick two miles over from the airport.
"Great to see you! I must know more than a dozen people here!"
"Me, too. The Albany Running Exchange, is organizing the race, and I came over to see my buds."
Kind of a funny start to the race at 6 PM. The walkers got off, no problem. But, the runners got off to a false start - all of them. I guess the starter was trying to tell everyone how he was going to start the race - only they all thought it was the start, so off them went. And back they came, and did it again. (Not without a few muttered unkind words among the group - I don't even know what some of those words mean!)
The first mile took them out of the park and then back in, so I walked over to the clock at the one mile mark and waited for them. Five minutes later, Sara's boyfriend Tom blazed back into the park, with Chris from OSC right behind him.
Standing all alone, right across the path from the clock so I had a good view of the runners as they crossed the bridge and came back into the park, I cheered loudly for everyone I knew and most the ones I didn't know. Some of the walkers who were now starting to appear wanted to know why I wasn't cheering for them - well, I didn't know any of them, but what the hay, I cheered for them, too.
I pretty much cheered for 9 minutes straight, until the 14 minute mark, when a lady came jogging by with her dog - and the dog was definitely not a puppy! At that point I really wished I had been in the race - I just know I could have beaten that dog! More on the lady and the dog later.
As soon as they went by, I hurried over to the start line, because I was pretty sure the boys were going to be appearing any minute. Sure enough, at the 16 minute mark, I could see Tom round the corner and head onto the start of the grass chute - the finishing two or three hundred yards were all on grass, with ropes and pennants defining the borders. Tom finished under 17 minutes and Chris shortly thereafter.
Then I could see the first woman - and it was my friend Christina. I gave her my best cheers and I could see her smile as she turned for home.
Christina, First Place - Women
And then my friend Kelly was there, running in 5th. She smiled, too.
Kelly, Fifth Place - Women
9 seconds behind her, Jess whipped through the chute.
Then Deanne, and Sara, and Donna and Jen and Marilyn. I cheered wildly for each one of them by name.
Jen M, Chris - Second Place, Men, Deanne
Finally the lady and the dog turned the corner and headed down the chute. She raised her arms in triumph and the crown roared. Wait - she wasn't raising her hands in triumph - she was raising them to show us the doggy bag! Damn, I knew for sure at that point that I could have beaten that dog to the finish.
I was also thinking, "I'm so slow, I never bring s**t home from a race - if only I could find a dog to bring with me, that would never be true again!"
Captain Mike stayed almost to the end, cheering on all his friends, until his cell phone rang, and he knew he was busted. Sure enough, someone wanted to know why he wasn't home yet. So, he high tailed it, muttering something like "At least I'm not out at some bar drinking beer..."
I had a great time talking with all my friends after the race. Almost every one of them complained about running over the uneven turf while they chowed down on post race vittles.
I didn't eat any of the bananas or bagels though - hadn't earned them. Wait - I never eat any of the bananas or bagels after a race.
I talked with Sara and Tom after the race, too. I asked Tom what his last name was and he told me. Then he asked if my son was Jon and if he had gone to Tufts. Turns out that Tom has played on a little league team I had managed a dozen or so years ago. He told he had just graduated and was off to Temple for graduate work. We talked about a few people we knew in common, and I asked him about some other Colonie kids I knew who had gone to the same school.
Sara listened to this, and then asked me, "Do you know everyone?"
No - but I know a lot of great people, and many of them were at this race. I had a terrific time - funner, indeed.
See you out there.
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