One of my favorite lines from a movie I've never seen is from "Hardball", starring Keen-u Reeves. I like it because I can do a fair imitation of him, at times, and I think it's a silly line, especially when delivered with Keen-u's weird surfer-like gravitas. He's addressing the little league baseball players he's apparently been comically saddled with coaching, and he says, "One of the most important things in life is showing up. You guys blow me away with your ability to show up."
The line rang in my head Saturday morning, as Jean, Christina and I were able to show up at the St. James Missionary Baptist Church Missions 5K (whew - I know). And, we showed up well.
Many of us identified this as an important event. A couple of years ago, I ticked off a lot of people on another running group's forum by asking why there weren't more black folks in the group. Lots of people jumped all over me for asking such a clearly racist question, though notably, the two or three black folks that were in the group asked, "No, really, why is that, and what can we do about it?"
There are lots of reasons that the Austin running community is not more diverse, and the fact that IH-35 is once again the physical demarcation of this failure indicates that those reasons are not the fault of either community, but are issues of exposure, culture, and economics.
Just as problematic is the fact that, while we like to trumpet Austin as being such a fit city, we also rank fairly high in obesity, a problem that is universal, but also disparately correlates to minorities and lower-income groups.
In the past few years, we had the Go For The Gold 10K and (Almost) 5K, that not only ran in East Austin, but did a fair job of drawing registrants from both sides of the interstate. This year, with that race dead and, at least for now, gone, the St. James Missions 5K was the only shot to really fill that role.
The timing was difficult, with the exertion and expense of the marathon and half marathon just two weeks behind us. Most people reponded with heartfelt regrets at not being able to participate due to conflicts, but even then, it was clear that people "got" the importance of the event. That understanding and desire to "give back" says a lot about you.
The race was a huge success. The close to 300 registrants got a challenging course that was still very fair, if run properly, and they were treated to some of the best energy I've seen at any race.
The race started in the parking lot of the St. James church. Organizers did a very good job of lining its walkers up behind the runners, in large part because the walkers were extremely cooperative.
Jean, Christina and I started near the front, which ended up in something we've never really experienced before. We went out at a steady pace, and as the rolling hills of the four-sided trapezoid of the course opened up ahead of us, we could see the seven to eight people that were ahead of us. For once, we weren't just running against ourselves and the clock in a pack - we could see the possibilities ahead of us - we were really racing.
Christina and I ran it hard, but pretty strategically. I had done the course measurement and laid cones out along the route that morning, so we had the benefit of knowing the course, and knowing that at least some of those runners ahead of us would blow themselves out. Sure enough, a couple of fairly strong-looking runners did, and we passed them eventually.
For once, I was able to edge past Christina in the last half mile or so, as I took advantage of the fact that, unlike her, I had not been out drinking until 2:45am.
In the end, though, Christina was the second female finisher overall, and had a large PR, as well.
I PR'ed by 31 seconds, enough to come in sixth overall and first in my age group, which is something I never thought I would be in danger of experiencing.
And, Jean came in third in one of the larger female age groups, though she left before we knew that she would be claiming a medal.
The finish and post-race atmosphere was amazing. Everyone, runner and walker, young and old, black and white, got genuine, enthusiastic, and rowdy applause, while gospel music sent waves of highly energetic positivity across parking lot, where the finish line and health fair were set up.
With such a great turnout for its first year, this race will grow, and I'm proud that we were able to see and be a part of its birth.
I'm also proud of another round of success for some of our runners. Even though the field was small, and the finishing times relatively unimpressive for a 5K, we placed because we showed up, and because we ran hard in a race that gave us average folks, of all colors, a chance to compete together and celebrate together.
So, as proud as I am of Team Spee performances Saturday, I was even prouder that once again, our team recognized the importance of an event like this, not only to the race organizers, and not only to the Eastside community, but to helping grow the Austin running community into something we can all be proud of, in directions that better represent our entire city. An appeal to that sensibility was sent out a week ago to two other large running groups. Gilbert responded with interest, and I believe sent an email out to his Gazelles, who were represented by a woman and her son. Other, far larger running groups who got the same email didn't respond and were conspicuously absent.
You guys have raised money for good causes, helped fellow runners out on the road, and volunteered to help out with the marathon effort - not doing something intrinsically fun or flashy, not out of some bloated sense of self-importance, and not to advertise this group, but because you believed we could have fun and do some good. I don't want us to be arrogant or self-righteous about it, but I do have to say that for the newest and one of the smallest groups around, it's just another way you've been proof. Thanks for that, and keep it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment