mindfirerunner

I enjoyed getting down to sea level for a week of running. Running in a new city always brings a bit of anxiety to my world since most mornings I’m up to run well before the sun even thinks about peaking over the horizon. Throw in some unknown territory and a city along the ocean and running becomes more a fear of making sure I can out run the person I keep imagining is chasing me.

On our first night in San Diego, my husband and I decided to venture on a little walk to scope out our running path for the next morning. We walked around the convention center downtown and went atop the massive structure to peer over the view and see if we could spot some good running paths. Dusk was settling in and I looked down, pointed and almost shouted “Hey look! There are runners down there!” Lo and behold, right before our very eyes a running group was getting ready to head off into the sunset. I thought about flailing my arms and yelling at them to hold up, but in a brief moment of perspective we decided to run down the 12 flights of stairs as quickly as possible to catch them before they left on their trot. We made it down to the group, a bit out of breath and excited, and quickly asked if they were locals and gathered intel on the best routes to run. I was so excited I could hardly stand it and in a moment of mental lapse told my husband “Hey, we should go run with them now”. Instead, we soaked up the great advice on routes, sun rise times, and things to know when running in San Diego. I thought we had made out great, but found it slightly charming when one of the older gentlemen in the group said “Hey, did you hear that? She called us runners!” I smiled and we mosied on our way.

My last day in San Diego I wanted to hit the path before the San Diego 1/2 Marathon got rolling. I was out and back from a long run in plenty of time to catch the start of the race. Along my route, and in the dark wee hours of the morning (thank you time change) I stumbled across a few water stations on the race course. The volunteers cheered me on and even offered me something to drink. What a great group of people – I thought to myself. They were out on the course long before any other runners, and yet they were offering up some strange runner on a path behind them something to drink. Volunteers play a huge part in any race. For many of us they can be the group that makes or breaks a certain mileage point. Their cheers of encouragement, offering of beverages and gels, and time on the course (which I dare say is longer than any of us are on there) are what come from a unique subset of individuals.  

So here’s to you race course volunteers – THANK YOU – for getting up earlier than us on race day, freezing in the cold, rain, snow or otherwise, and doing everything in your power to compliment the time and effort us runners have put into getting to the start line and making it through to the end. May we return your smiles, thank you for the gift of nourishment and encouragement, and continue to see you on race day!