2011 Race for the Cure

On Sunday, I ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Hunt Valley, MD.  This race is to find a cure for breast cancer.  Since my mom is a survivor, I felt like this race was a must for me.  For the past five years, I have wanted to do this event, but I never felt like I belonged.  Since I have several races behind me and feel more comfortable in my role as a “runner”, I knew this was my year to do the Race for the Cure. 

I woke up at 5:30 am the morning of the race.  This is nothing new for runners, but I am not sure I will ever get used to the early hours.  My partners in crime, my friends Erin and Will, along with my sister Samantha met at my house and we were off to the race.  The drive to Hunt Valley is about 45 minutes.  The race started at 8 am, but by 7 am all of the area parking lots were packed and finding parking was difficult.  We finally found parking about a mile from the start.  We got to the race village, picked up our bibs and shirts and hit bag check just in time to make it to the start line. 

Several announcements were made that the runners started at 8 am and that walkers stated at 8:30 am.  Although the organizers attempted to keep walkers in the back, it did not happen.  Getting past the starting line was very slow to say the least.  There were so many people in front of me that were walking…very slowly.  There were even people pushing stroller, regular stroller, not jogging strollers.  This was by far the most difficult race start I have ever experienced.  After a few minutes, I began to realize this was not a race for a PR and to just have fun.

One thing about the race I really enjoyed was all the special tributes.  People had tributes to loved ones, past and present, which have battled breast cancer.  Tributes ranged from shirts, to posters, to balloons.  It was very moving to see all the families and the survivors themselves running or walking for the cure.  A local sorority was at race village providing pink cards to attach to the runners bibs.  The cards had a spot for the runner to write who they were running in honor of.  This my sister and I with a card to honor our mom.

I always enjoy reading race shirts, but this race had some particularly good ones.  My favorite read “Yes, they are fake--The real ones tried to kill me. “  A local fire company had shirts that read “jogging for jugs”.    They were black with hot pink letters, worn mostly by men.  There was a little kid running the race wearing a shirt that said “care for your pair.”  People can be very creative.

I finished the race with a clock time of 40:24.  This was not a chip timed event.  With the very slow start, I figure my time from start line to finish line was around 38 minutes.  I am happy with it, considering how crowded that race was.  I heard an announcement saying there was over thirty thousand race participants and over three million dollars was raised for the cure!  I am proud to be part of such a wonderful event. 

A dream is a wish...

--Amy

***Don't forget about my GU giveaway!

***I have an amazing giveaway to start in a few days!  Stay tuned!