Race for the Cure
Sunday's Race for the Cure was really great. I'm so glad I signed up and got up early to go do this.
Sunday morning, my alarm went off at 5:20. I got myself out of bed by 5:45, washed up, got dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and was out the door by 6:15 to catch the 6:32 train. There were a bunch of people on the train who were also going to the Race. I was surprised to see so many people up so early, but it made a lot more sense once I actually got there. I met up with Kristina and Christine at our office at 7:30, and we walked up to the art museum. The roads were already closed, so it was an easy walk for a while, until we ran into all the other people heading the same direction we were heading. The roads and sidewalks got more and more crowded with all the people going to the starting line. Eventually we got there.
Christine, me, half of Kristina.
Christine and I.
Kristina and Christine.
At the info tent (there were actually several info tents, we just went to the closest one), they had "In memory of" and "In celebration of" signs, so racers could show who they were celebrating.
Here's my back with my sign on it. Technically I guess I should have had a second sign, "in memory of" Regina, but my back isn't that large and I think Regina would be pleased to be celebrated.
It was incredibly crowded, but we started making our way towards the starting line. We didn't get too close, because we figured the real runners would be up front, but we were definitely in the center of a big crowd. I read that 45,000 people were there for the Race. I don't know if I've ever been in a crowd that big before.
The view forward down the parkway, toward the starting line and downtown.
The view behind us, back towards the art museum. Literally, people were packed together as far as we could see in any direction. You can also see a bit of the pink balloon things on the art museum steps.
The race finally began at 8:15. It took us a few minutes to get going, and the first half-mile or so was really confusing, because the runners who had ended up at the back of the pack were all trying to move forward past all the walkers so they could run. Chaotic and really crowded, but after a little while we were able to spread out some. When we walked past the LOVE Park visitors' center, there was a small rock band playing on the stairs. They were playing "I Will Survive" (the Cake version). I couldn't help but imagine them playing that same song, over and over and over again, because what other song could possibly be more appropriate?
We did the first mile of the race in 23:45. I neglected to take a picture of the clock and was disappointed when I realized I missed it. After the first mile, we started walking a bit faster and cutting around slower people, so we made slightly better time.
Here's the crowd ahead of us, heading up Market Street.
I didn't miss the 2-Mile sign! We made better time on the second mile than we did on the first mile.
Christine was kind of amused by this guy: he's all hip-hop, hat off to the side, trudging along in celebration of Grammy. Good for you, hip-hop guy.
Here's K and C. We're almost done!
The finish line! We did the 5K (a little over 3 miles) in one hour 3 minutes. We totally could have made it in under an hour if it hadn't been so darn crowded.
Wawa donated a free continental breakfast. I knew that there would be muffins at the end of the race, and I had this awesome Seinfeld-esque mental image of myself, running across the finish line, breaking the finish line ribbon, looking all triumphant, with one hand reaching out for my free muffin. It was a beautiful mental picture.
Actually, Wawa didn't hand out muffins as you crossed the finish line, but instead had a big tent nearby. Rows and rows of tables, piled high with donuts and muffins, and nice volunteers handing you food. I took one of almost everything, but I couldn't eat the donut.
Kristina does not want her picture taken while she's eating.
Muffin!! I also had a soft pretzel and grabbed a banana for later.
After K and C politely ate their one donut and banana each and I finished gorging myself, we decided to go out for breakfast, of course. The place Christine wanted to go was up at 18th, so we basically had to walk the race route part of the way. I got their picture with some balloons:
Here's a link to a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the Race.
Overall, the Race was a really amazing thing to do. I'd never done a race like this before. The energy was just incredible, all these people, all these women out to fight back against breast cancer. It was super cool and I'm so glad I did it!
Sunday morning, my alarm went off at 5:20. I got myself out of bed by 5:45, washed up, got dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and was out the door by 6:15 to catch the 6:32 train. There were a bunch of people on the train who were also going to the Race. I was surprised to see so many people up so early, but it made a lot more sense once I actually got there. I met up with Kristina and Christine at our office at 7:30, and we walked up to the art museum. The roads were already closed, so it was an easy walk for a while, until we ran into all the other people heading the same direction we were heading. The roads and sidewalks got more and more crowded with all the people going to the starting line. Eventually we got there.
Christine, me, half of Kristina.
Christine and I.
Kristina and Christine.
At the info tent (there were actually several info tents, we just went to the closest one), they had "In memory of" and "In celebration of" signs, so racers could show who they were celebrating.
Here's my back with my sign on it. Technically I guess I should have had a second sign, "in memory of" Regina, but my back isn't that large and I think Regina would be pleased to be celebrated.
It was incredibly crowded, but we started making our way towards the starting line. We didn't get too close, because we figured the real runners would be up front, but we were definitely in the center of a big crowd. I read that 45,000 people were there for the Race. I don't know if I've ever been in a crowd that big before.
The view forward down the parkway, toward the starting line and downtown.
The view behind us, back towards the art museum. Literally, people were packed together as far as we could see in any direction. You can also see a bit of the pink balloon things on the art museum steps.
The race finally began at 8:15. It took us a few minutes to get going, and the first half-mile or so was really confusing, because the runners who had ended up at the back of the pack were all trying to move forward past all the walkers so they could run. Chaotic and really crowded, but after a little while we were able to spread out some. When we walked past the LOVE Park visitors' center, there was a small rock band playing on the stairs. They were playing "I Will Survive" (the Cake version). I couldn't help but imagine them playing that same song, over and over and over again, because what other song could possibly be more appropriate?
We did the first mile of the race in 23:45. I neglected to take a picture of the clock and was disappointed when I realized I missed it. After the first mile, we started walking a bit faster and cutting around slower people, so we made slightly better time.
Here's the crowd ahead of us, heading up Market Street.
I didn't miss the 2-Mile sign! We made better time on the second mile than we did on the first mile.
Christine was kind of amused by this guy: he's all hip-hop, hat off to the side, trudging along in celebration of Grammy. Good for you, hip-hop guy.
Here's K and C. We're almost done!
The finish line! We did the 5K (a little over 3 miles) in one hour 3 minutes. We totally could have made it in under an hour if it hadn't been so darn crowded.
Wawa donated a free continental breakfast. I knew that there would be muffins at the end of the race, and I had this awesome Seinfeld-esque mental image of myself, running across the finish line, breaking the finish line ribbon, looking all triumphant, with one hand reaching out for my free muffin. It was a beautiful mental picture.
Actually, Wawa didn't hand out muffins as you crossed the finish line, but instead had a big tent nearby. Rows and rows of tables, piled high with donuts and muffins, and nice volunteers handing you food. I took one of almost everything, but I couldn't eat the donut.
Kristina does not want her picture taken while she's eating.
Muffin!! I also had a soft pretzel and grabbed a banana for later.
After K and C politely ate their one donut and banana each and I finished gorging myself, we decided to go out for breakfast, of course. The place Christine wanted to go was up at 18th, so we basically had to walk the race route part of the way. I got their picture with some balloons:
Here's a link to a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the Race.
Overall, the Race was a really amazing thing to do. I'd never done a race like this before. The energy was just incredible, all these people, all these women out to fight back against breast cancer. It was super cool and I'm so glad I did it!