Now if you expected just a few hundred runners you'd be woefully under-guessing. Try over 16,000 total for all the races. Yup ... that's over sixteen thousand! Keep in mind that on a normal day in Flint you might find a couple of hundred people spread around the downtown area. Picture this ... 16,000 racers and probably 40,000 spectators lining the various courses. The 10 mile run alone had over 10,000 entrants. Flint was alive again. There were races for all ages and abilities from 1k to 10 miles in length.
But we really didn't care about all those thousands of runners here for the big spectacle ... we were here to see just one particular runner. Our son, Steve, was making his inaugural attempt to run those rugged ten miles. Training for the past several months in one of the hottest summers in years, he kept at it adding miles to his routine until he was able to do the 10 miles.
Now it's nearly race time. A little nervousness was apparent as Steve prepared for the start. His soon mom-to-be wife, Jenny, helped him with his race documents and gave him a steady stream of moral support as did his mother-in-law Sharyn, as well as my Sharon and me. The excitement was building.
Downtown Flint was bulging with racers of all shapes, ages and colors and before long Steve headed off for the start line. He quickly disappeared into the mass of runners. I'm pretty sure the three of us each said a little silent prayer on his behalf that he'd not have any problems ... though he probably didn't know it.
I grabbed my camera and headed off towards the starting line only to discover I was lost in the throngs of runners and had no idea where Steve was. No big deal I thought ... I'd catch him as he rounded the block about a mile from the start. I headed over to a spot I thought I'd see him only to find the crowd of onlookers three deep. I did get there just in time to see the lead runners go by. Three Kenyans whose long, lean legs were stretched out and hitting the pavement at a steady cadence most runners could only dream of. Already they were pulling away from the pack. And keep in mind the pack for this race was over 10,000 strong. I waited as hundreds upon hundreds went racing by. Straining to find Steve amongst the thousands. Just to get a glimpse would be good enough for me. As I just about gave up, I saw him on the other side of the street running along a a pretty good clip. He seemed relaxed and fresh ... but then again ... it was only a mile into the race. What would he look like at the finish?
I made way back to our gathering point near the finish line to wait out the rest of the race. Steve's best time for that distance had been about 1 hour and 50 minutes so with about 25 minutes to spare (I thought), I headed up to the finish line to get some pictures of him coming across. Arriving there I wiggled my way up to the front row and to my surprise about a minute later I caught sight of him coming down the street towards the finish line. Wait a minute! He's early! Way early than what we'd expected. But there he was. Smiling too. In full stride with arms raised in the air as he crossed the finished line. Our kid had made it and ... it was his best time at that. Wow! The family finally has an athlete.
It was really hard to describe how we all felt. After all it was just a bunch of people running around and getting sweaty ... but it turned out to be far more than that. It was a very tangible accomplishment for Steve. Something that took effort and perseverance. A moment Steve will always remember and a moment we were all so proud to witness!
Still livin' the dream.
Phil
1 comment:
Great recap dad, thanks for being there.
www.brightroom.com has some more photos of me during the race.
I'm considering running (yes pun intendend) with this momentum and entering a half marathon next month.
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