I’m leaving town soon to go run tomorrow’s half-marathon in Hannover, and even though I’m not as fit as I was last year, my excitement is building! You definitely don’t have to be fast to love racing, and here are a few of my favorite things about the experience:
- The pre-race expos. Being surrounded by all the other racers’ excited anticipation, the joy of picking up your number and your bag full of goodies, the booths with all the latest gear, and walking around town noticing everyone else carrying their race bag.
- Everyone has their own race-day rituals they follow, and I love getting to the start area a little early and watching other racers go through their own steps for making sure they have a good run. It’s seriously an anthropological dissertation waiting to happen…
- Getting the chance to experience a city in ways you might otherwise not be able to. Running through the empty streets of Times Square is only going to happen in if you’re signed up for the NY Half-Marathon, and is one of those experiences that will stay with you forever.
- The energy surge you get just from being in the race. For long races, they say you don’t actually need to run the full distance in training because the excitement of the race will carry you those extra few miles (along with being in shape, of course). And it’s so true — I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been totally empty and been able to push through those last miles using sheer will power.
- The utter satisfaction of having worked hard and long towards a goal and accomplishing it. You don’t get much more concrete a goal than finishing a race, and it feels SO good.
Okay, off I go!
I hope the race went well! It’s 3 weeks till I am supposed to run the Edinburgh half marathon but backache for the last week has limited my running – and I sure as heck haven’t been training enough……
Have a fun race…however many time I hear people explain why they run…I am never convinced it would be fun! ;)
I love your list – you’ve really captured the fun of running races!! The atmosphere is so great! And #3 has convinced me to someday run the NY Half!! Good luck tomorrow and have a fun race!
Di: Keeping my fingers crossed that your back will feel better and that your race in Edinburgh will be awesome!
Kirst: You gotta try it, I swear. ;)
Emily: The NY Half is a great excuse to visit New York! When I ran it, it was so popular that they had to choose the runners by lottery, so if you’re thinking about doing it, it pays off to start planning WAY in advance.
Great list – you’ve almost convinced me to try doing a half one day. One day…:) So, how’d it go?
How was the race???
Check out my race report! http://noapathyallowed.com/2010/05/04/22221-in-2010/