Survival of the Fittest
First, and most importantly: I survived! It took me about 2 1/2 hours, but I crossed the finish line in one piece, and aside from sore muscles and stiff joints, I feel pretty great. The pictures aren’t up yet, but when they are, you can search for me by bib number 17806. I tried to look up at all the cameras, but my energy was iffy in some places, and I’m sure the results will be to your great amusement.
A few highlights:
- The woman ahead of us as we walked toward our corrals. She had written in Sharpie on the back of her t-shirt “Lung Transplant” and the date of the surgery. Wow. I don’t get to complain about my hamstrings hurting, that’s for damn sure.
- The teenage girls standing on the side of the road around mile 1.5. They were in full prom gear and holding a huge fluorescent sign that said, “WE NEED PROM DATES.” They were with a older couple (parents? grandparents?); the woman had an equally fluorescent sign that asked, “McDreamy or McSteamy?” (McDreamy. Obviously.)
- Two women running together who had written on the back of their calves. One’s said, “I’m a Mini virgin.” Her friend’s calves: “I’ve been around the track.”
- The guy running in full fireman gear. The coat. The pants. The hat. The oxygen tank. For 13.1 miles. Because the running alone isn’t challenge enough? Wow.
- The cloggers entertaining us somewhere along 10th Street. I mean, cloggers. At 8:30 in the morning! What could be better?
- The cheerleading squad on the Speedway dressed like KISS.
- The elderly guy who wore a t-shirt that said “I’m not dead yet!”
- The woman wearing a stars-and-stripes visor, a stars-and-stripes sports bra, and stars-and-stripes spandex shorts. I wasn’t close enough to see her feet, but I’m sure they were just as patriotic. The whole ensemble was fairly terrifying.
- The free Miller Lite at the Hi Neighbor Tavern on 16th Street. I didn’t take any, but I definitely appreciated the thought.
- jaq and Emmit and Kellie all waiting on the sideline near the end! That was pretty awesome, even though I didn’t see them until I was passing them.
* * *
current book: Still have another essay or two in Slouching Towards Bethlehem (both the New Yorker and the Atlantic came this week, apparently sort of on time, so I’ve been distracted from Didion). I also just picked up Clive James’ Cultural Amnesia, which has gotten so much press in everything from the Atlantic to the Colbert Report, that I let my curiosity do the shopping.
current music: Lots of great road trip tunes! Everything from Justin Timberlake to the Old 97’s.
current socks: My poor swollen feet are barefoot and would really like to remain so. I just tried on a pair of dress shoes and couldn’t get them on.
Posted 6 May 2007
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I LOVE cloggers. That is almost enough to make me want to run the mini–almost.
Congratulations! Rosie asked me if I was going to go down and cheer you on. Honestly, it never dawned on me that you might appreciate that until it was too late. I’ll do that next year. Maybe you’ll see me with a Dixie cup in my hand at Hi Neighbor.
It was really neat going down there to search for Aunt Laura. Even though she saw us before we saw her because I was distracted by taking pictures of Emmit. Thought that counts, though, right? We meant to walk a bit farther, but stopped at the mile 13 marker, which meant .1 left to go.
One thing that you don’t necessarily expect when you see the portion of 35,000 runners/walkers/near crawlers is how seriously emotional it is. Couples crossing the finish line holding hands; fathers and sons high fiving as they go that final stretch; kids! running; the freaking pride mixed with exhaustion on the faces – I’m tearing up again just thinking about it.
So proud of you, little milkshake!!
Stumbled across your website — don’t know you at all. Congrats on doing the mini, though — it’s a great race. I ran it as well. Also live in Chicago, but in the South Loop. I’d have loved to have seen that lung transplant person — my husband had a lung transplant as well, so I’d have given her some serious props had I seen her. Anyway, congrats on your achievement!