Princess Runner

• 4 September 2007

On Monday, my mom and I ran the Park Forest Scenic 10 mile race. Of all of the races that I have done (about 15), this was probably my favorite. After experiencing so many races that were understaffed and not well thought-out, it was quite refreshing to have an event that was so well put together.

The best part of the event was the way that the community of Park Forest really supported the event and all the participants. From the many great volunteers, many of them children, to the hundreds of people sitting out on in their lawns and on the sidewalks cheering us all on, it was truly a community event. The most amazing thing was that they did not wane in their support throughout the day and I know this because I was fairly near the end of the group of 1700 runners.

Of course the best part of the day was running the event with my mom, although she did not seem to be enjoying herself too much because the heat was pretty miserable. Luckily she was able to run through sprinklers set out by friendly residents and through water sprayed from people’s garden hoses. She told me today that she did have fun, she “just didn’t know it at the time.”

Here are some more things that I enjoyed about the day, in bullet form:

• The 50-something year old cheerleaders, complete with pom-poms.
• The 8-year old girl playing the violin, who reminded me of a younger me.
• The cute kids volunteering to hand out water. They were so into their jobs, that some of them went farther up the course so that they could be the one to hand me water. At one stop three of them all helped my mom by dumping the cups of water into her watter bottle.
• The two girls who said “My name is (name), What’s yours?” When I told them, they said, “Go (name) Go!”
• The lady with the cowbell.
• The string quartet at the entrance/exit of the forest preserve.
• The rows of cups of water still available even though it was almost two hours into the event.
• The number of people who said “and she’s still smiling” as I smiled and waved in thanks for their support.
• The medal. (I wish all races had medals)
• The water sprayer/shower thing that I was able to stand under after the race.
• My husband, the wonderful photographer. He was allowed to pull up a chair and sit at the finish line to get my mom and I as we crossed.

I think that my training runs would go a lot more smoothly if I had a crowd lining the route to cheer me on. It makes me optimistic for the marathon, because I hear there will be a “few” people there. Here are some photos of the day:

• Filed under
  • family,
  • long run,
  • racing
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