So after about 4 months of training we finally reached the finish line this morning! Jeff and I ran the Parkinson Alliance 5K run at Carnegie Center and it was an amazing, exhausting, emotional, and uplifting day. Prior to starting the training neither of us were particularly good at running and in fact I don’t think I’d run at all since Miss Bodayle required that I run a mile in under 10 minutes in order to pass freshman gym. I remember lying and telling her my time was under 10 minutes when actually it was more like 12.
The most amazing thing about today is that we raised $1,000 for Parkinson’s research! I still can’t believe that. We had so many friends and family members support our fundraising efforts that we are truly humbled and awed by everyone’s generosity. There were people who we hadn’t actually talked to in years who found out about our 5k run through Facebook and gave generously in support of their own loved ones who have battled PD. In the end it felt like quite an accomplishment to raise so much money and we felt like winners before the race even began.
It’s really hard to describe in words just how moving the race was. There were a couple of racers who were living with Parkinson’s and their determination was inspiring. Seeing Jeff’s mom in tears at the starting line before the gun went off was absolutely touching and helped remind us of why we were doing the race in the first place. She was diagnosed with PD about 3 years ago and honoring her and showing our support for her were our inspirations for the run. The running itself was rather fun. My competitiveness was nourished by the opportunity to pass others on the course (even if they were pushing a baby carriage or had legs about a foot shorter than mine). By the time I reached the end of the race, my knee was kind of sore but I definitely felt like I had more left in the tank. I could hear the crowds cheering at this point and knew that there was only 1 or 2 turns left. I decided to sprint for the finish…not just for me but for all the people like Jeff’s mom who are dealing with PD and couldn’t be out there today on the course. After finishing the race I saw Jeff coming around the final loop and decided to run to him and finish the race (again) with him. He had run a heck of a race and was beating his best training time by 4 minutes or so. This time as we approached the finish I took it all in…Jeff’s parents cheering us on just a few yards from the end, the families embracing, the runners who’d finished encouraging those in the homestretch…and felt overcome by emotions. After 4 months of running we’d finally made it to the finish line.
I’m already secretly planning my next race (even though the budding yoga instructor in me knows how horrible it is for my joints). Right now I’m just sitting in the office, ice pack on my knee, relishing that contented feeling of a job well done. We may have come in around 300th place today, but it still feels like we won.
TODAY’S KARMA SCOREBOARD
Raced for a Parkinson’s cure (+50)
Took a little too much joy out of passing the “losers” in my dust (-10)
Let out a well earned cry after it was over (+5)
Just Be Now 