Yesterday I "ran" my first 10K with Phil. First in a chair. First in this journey on wheels. I was tricked into this 10K.... yes, I'm going to keep saying that! My Rabbit friend got talked into pacing the Santa Cruz Half Marathon, which gave her a free friend or family entry.. and then there was an email telling me of this entry and the race director was fine with a wheelchair in the 10K. I thought I could give it a shot, and the next day I had a race confirmation, so I guess I was going to give it a shot!
Yeah... look how innocent she looks there..
So there I was yesterday morning with Phil, shivering with the Running Addicts Pacing Team waiting for 8am to roll around so we could get moving. After the half started, I headed to the start and talked to the timers for a moment (almost literally!). The timers got me out in front and asked if I wanted to start before the official start. Since there's a nice hill in sight of the start, I did want to go early so I could get as far as possible before the masses came at me.... so Timing Guy says I'm starting in 15 seconds and starts rattling off my number and some other numbers pertaining to me to the guy at the computer, and is suddenly telling me to go! I made it halfway up the hill before I had runners with me... had to convince a few of them and a spectator that I didn't need a push. Going uphill is still hard in a wheelchair, but Phil makes up for it as soon as there is any kind of downhill! Weeeeeee!!
I caught up to friends in the half and/or got to see them after my turnaround. Talked to quite a few people on the course. Many runners/walkers cheered for me.. one lady even yelled in front of me to get others to make a path for me ("Hey! Guy in the blue shirt, get out of the way!"). When I got back to the first aid station, I realized I was almost done and despite being a little tired and my hip not quite agreeing to my position in the chair anymore, I was feeling pretty good.... which was much better than my fears of being undertrained.
The races ends going down that original hill to a sharp turn onto a ramp that takes you down into the sand, but to make that turn worse, they narrow down the available road while on the hill. Luckily I had made a large friend just before we got to that and he put me in front of him while yelling out to the other runners that I was coming through. With that little bit of a space cushion and spectators cheering loudly for me, I easily barreled onto the sand and made it over the timing mats before the wet sand ran out and the dry sand stopped me. It was then that I surprised/impressed a lot of people by continuing to move across the sand. Or at the very least, trying to. One very nice woman stopped and asked if I could use a push.. she ended up helping me walk through the finish arch and out of the way of the finish, all while telling me how great I did. Once she made sure I was going to be okay and I thanked her profusely, she gave me a hug and called me an inspiration.. I'll never get used to that. I actually hope I never do.
Sitting in the sand with Phil.. job well done!
A couple minutes later, I had an email congratulating me on my finish of 58:43
Eventually, I ended up back at the Pacer tent to wait for everyone to come in. I listened to the pacers compare notes, cheered for friends that had done the half (with some PRs mixed in!), and got a hug from Timing Guy. I ended the event with lunch with some great friends and good conversation.
10K doesn't get medals, but my Honu friend (who must be a rare Cheetah Honu, because he blew up his PR!) gave me his when he learned that I didn't get one, and even more so after he asked if this had been my first event
So, back to Phil.... this morning I woke up with the thought that Phil could be a nickname of Philip, which is derived from Philippos (yes, I have some strange bits of information in my head). Literally defined, Philippos means fond of horses. Loosely translated, it means noble. And in my strange mind, that means Phil is a noble steed and he definitely proved that yesterday!
