Katie's Run

 A few years ago Katie had a friend who celebrated turning 40 by having a group run. Together they would run 40 miles then celebrate. If no one showed up, the birthday girl would run 40 miles alone. If 39 people, plus the birthday girl showed up, they would each run one mile. 

Katie was hooked. 

Katie decided when she turned 40 she would do the same. Between her running group and other parts of her life, she has a lot of running friends. At one point she had enough friends each person would have to run 2.67 miles. 

That's when Don and I chimed in we would do it, too.

As the day drew nearer, and the forecast turned colder, we were afraid some people would bail. Though we didn't want to run a half-marathon that day, we were prepared to do so for Katie if we were the only ones who showed up. 

The plan was to meet at the Grandparents Park near the Marina at Mercer County Park at 9 am on February 29. Though we have had some warm days, this was not one of them. Fortunately it was not raining or sleeting. Just cold. About 30 degrees, but feels like the low 20s cold.

We showed up in time for the count off. There were 28 people, mostly women.

1.42 miles each.

We can do this! 


We headed out like a flock of flamingos (the goal was to dress in pink) and turned left past the memorial. Ran for .7 miles and turned around. That easy.

Having a cold, and having run a 5k the day before with a 4 mile race planned for the next day, I was much slower than usual. Either that, or I was aiming to keep Katie's pace. Yeah, that's my story and I am sticking with it.

As I passed a couple walking, I encouraged them to shout Happy Birthday to Katie. They did.

Some people ended up going further. Some went less. There was no timing chip or GPS. It was all on the honor system. It was all for fun.

We did have fun. The sunshine helped. It always does.

Afterwards there were flamingo cupcakes and other celebratory activities. Don and I went home. Some skipped the running and arrived in time for the party. Others skipped the party and only went to the run. I suspect in the end it worked out as it was supposed to -- just right.