Bloomsday 2008

Well, who would have thought that I would have not only started, but actually finish a 12K (that's 7.46 miles to the layman )? On Sunday, May 4th of 2008, I joined a group of friends to partake in the nationally recognized race in Spokane, WA. We walked among 43,640 others on this rather unusually warm day in May. We had many different forms of entertainment along the way that ranged from an old man playing the accordian to a pretty decent group of young rock n' rollers to a couple of people dressed as gorillas. We also saw some very...ahem...different styles of running/walking attire. Some walked the entire thing in flip flops, some in high heeled boots. How? Who knows...! There were clowns, teenagers in 70's get-up, and apparently there was a man earlier in the race that ran in a french maid's uniform. It takes all kinds.... There were some very inspiring people too...like the teenagers that pushed, yes, PUSHED their friend in a wheelchair the entire way, or the woman that appeared to have prepared herself to run this race but somehow broke a leg sometime before and did the entire thing (even Doomsday hill) on crutches.

I have to say that I was quite proud of myself (and of course the other ladies, too!). Some people may be discouraged to hear that they came in 31,536th place. But knowing that at least 12,000 people finished after me helps take the ouch out of that placement. I also had the best pace I've ever had per mile since high school. I wasn't sure I was even going to finish the race before they closed the route, but I did! It took me 2 hours and 19 minutes to complete Bloomsday. Next year, I am shooting for 2 hours or under. I'll let you know how that goes! :)