(Water for the) Water for the World Race

Heavy rains woke me a few times during the night and pre dawn hours. Thunder and lightening too. Woke at 6:15 am for the scheduled 5k http://www.waterfortheworld.com/ and was wondering what I should do…will the race take place in such weather? Crazy storms expected all day. I know well enough that races take place rain or shine, but in thunder and lightening? Hmmm…

After grabbing a little coffee and banana, i noticed the rain had let up and I decided to make a go for it. If the race was cancelled, fine. If not, great. I would be there and ready to go. It was held in an office park north of metro atlanta…i.e… suburbia. I wanted to do the race because of the cause….water! A ridiculous percentage of water in developing countries is not even SAFE FOR HUMAN CONTACT. All the proceeds from the race went to a church ministry who do work in Africa to help with water issues, treatment, etc.. I know a little about the massive contamination and pollution problems of water in different areas, so if my dollars can help even just a little, i am on board! I also just wanted to run a little community race.

While driving to the location and up until the very start, it had stopped raining. As we crossed the start line, heavy rain came pouring down. I’m not talking about little pebbles; I’m talking BIG BIG DROPS. To me, it was wonderful and refreshing. and Healing. I enjoy running in the rain. Especially if the weather isn’t cold. It’s like I’m kid outside playing.

Since the route was in an office park, it was very quiet (except for many cool teens volunteering and cheering) and lots of trees. The short route began with a slight uphill and then flat. At approx. 3/4 mile, we began a steady semi-steep downhill. The heavy drops fell all around us creating big puddles everywhere. At one point, I looked over at the teenage boy next to me and said, “is this great or what?” He smiled big and said, “yeah”. On the descent, I thought to myself, are they gonna make us run back UP this road…that would not be too nice….

Yep, they did. At about the 1.2 mile mark, we turned around and went up the hill. Once we made it to the top, the remainder of the route was slightly rolling to the finish line. I didn’t wear my watch. I didn’t wear my iPOD. I wanted to be more present. Funny how it went by soooo fast.

I crossed the finish line, happy. Turns out I finished 3rd in my age group (remember, the race was small. LOL) Pretty neat. Got a nice plaque. The neat part about watching the award ceremony was seeing the faces of the kids who won in their age groups. I loved seeing their excitement, pride, and even shyness.

I might have had similar expressions on my face.

A great way to start my Saturday. Thanks to all involved in putting the race together, especially all the volunteers who had to be their early in the crazy rain.

Do what you can to make clean water possible for all. Cheers!

5k Time = 27:12 (not my fastest, but it wasn’t about that today)
Pace: 8:45/mile
Overall = 41st out of 224 total runners.