Race Report: Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k

I signed up for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure through my firm and was excited to run. I was already familiar with the Komen Foundation and its efforts to find a cure for breast cancer and was looking forward to supporting the cause. When I woke up Saturday morning, it was cold. Really cold. 35 degrees. Although I generally prefer running in cooler temperatures, 35 degrees is a little colder than I'd like. I dressed in long running leggings, my race for the cure t-shirt and my BlackGirlsRun! sweatshirt (my fave piece of running apparel). I got to the race around 7:20 am to take a group photo with co-workers and was amazed by the sea of pink around me. The half marathons I did in Miami and Chicago had pretty big crowds but nothing compared to this. Someone told me there were nearly 20,000 people. It was amazing to see and truly encouraging.

I should have readjusted my expectations when I saw the race was referred to as a "fun walk/race" but I did expect things to be more organized. When you signed up, you had the option of purchasing a regular registration or a timed one. I paid $5 extra to get a bib with a timing chip because I like to have official race times for the races I do but considering how the race went, I should have just paid the regular fee because with so many walkers and not quite as much organization as was needed, the timing chip did me no good.

In the racing materials, there was a note that said if you were a timed runner to make sure you go to the front. Unfortunately, this was nearly impossible because of the large number of people (and people of ALL ages). Once the race started and I was slowly moving to the front as the crowd moved, I saw a sign to the far left of the starting line that said "Start - Timed Runners." I got excited and moved to the left quickly thinking that this would ensure I had a better chance of getting through to the front to run and not have to worry about all of the walkers. This didn't pan out though because non-timed runners/walkers, paid this sign no mind. I spent most of mile one, walking and weaving through tons and tons of walkers, trying to get to a space where I could actually run. I saw people running/jumping over bushes along the race path and going far out of the way in hopes of getting past walkers so they could actually run. I feel bad complaining about this because it was truly amazing to see so many people outside supporting breast cancer but it was truly, truly frustrating because I really wanted to run and make a good time. I was particularly interested in what my 5k race time would be given my new half marathon training schedule. I crossed the finish line around 33:00 but I know a few minutes had passed before I actually crossed the start line and I didn't get a chance to really run until mile 2. I haven't found my chip time online yet but I'm interested to see what that says.

All in all, I felt truly inspired and touched every time I looked at the shirts of people running around me with "In remembrance of _______" and that made up for any frustrations I had with not actually being able to "race." It was also a good learning experience for me in terms of knowing what to expect with different types of races.

- Nash