why i run

2 months has seemingly passed me by without a blog update, the holidays and a surprise stint as RD got in the way, which puts me exactly five race reports behind (four official, one "unofficial").  As many of you know I’m on a PR quest this year although admittedly I will not make my NYC marathon qualifier of a 1:30, at least not in my January time frame unless an act of God hits or i drop 15 pounds of holiday weight and/or they suddenly allow for rockets on the back of running shoes.  It was with this same type of dreaming that I went into the Venice Beach 10k.  Appropriately, I asked the fasted person I know to pace me to a 44:00 minute finish. he said yes even though sometimes pacing me is much more painful than one might ever want to sign themselves up for.  I’m competitive and tend to get in a zone that is unbreakable once I begin.  My cheeks turn a bright shade of red, selective hearing and bitch mode kicks in.

the next four races i ran without a "pace car" and seemingly did okay and i mention this because  this blog entry should probably be a summary of all the official races i've managed to complete.  a dictation of elevation, swag reviews, hilly course descriptions and who had the best beer at the finish line (New Years Race, Los Angeles.  Sierra Nevada)  but instead i'm choosing to go the typical "curry route" and take a different direction.  i am choosing to write  about my one "unofficial" race.

i've written in blog posts prior about my sisters and their influence on me as both an athlete and a dream seeker.   so it is again that i write how they both encouraged me without their knowing to make my debut as an unofficial race director.   every year i make my trek home to the cold weather that awaits in December to spend Christmas with my family in the city of brotherly love.  typically, i do some training runs while i'm home and try to get my middle sister out of her house of four children.  (not an easy task for obvious reasons)  she humored me this year and mentioned if i found a race she would run with me.

i began my search and came up short with an unsurprising nothing. so i decided i would create my own race,  a 5 mile run through valley forge park that we both had done a million times prior.  it started innocent enough with a few friends showing interest and somehow grew to a facebook page with 49 accepted "yes" replies.  in conjunction with my debut i was talking to a friend deployed in Afghanistan who mentioned he was doing some volunteer work overseas for Afghanistan children to teach them english.  he had casually mentioned that they needed some basic school supplies.

  my initial goal was simple, run a race with my sister.  what it turned into was much, much greater.

on december 22nd close to 25 people braved the cold windy weather each carrying bags of school supplies and monetary donations for an organization that was foreign to everyone just days prior.  my mother donned her santa hat, my 3 year old nephew brought his running shoes, and my two sisters, my mom, a former middle school principal and dozens others started on our route for the "unofficial/official" Christmas run in Valley Forge Park.

official races are great, tech tees are an added bonus but there is nothing greater than getting a bunch of crazy runners together, most of whom i'd only known through facebook posts and race reports prior.

we finished our 5 miler and "mom" 1 mile fun run (at the request of my amazing mother)  with good spirits and dunkin donuts coffee and munchkin holes at the finish line.  we even had some six packs of chocolate ale to sip.  which for the record is perfectly acceptable at 10 am post run.

people often ask me why i run, what do i find so intriguing about it?  this race is my answer.

later that week i sent out two huge boxes to cat and the hat language arts center in bagram, Afghanistan.  and later that night i thanked God for the opportunity to spend the holidays with my family doing what i love the most.

running.