Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending two race events as a participant, although I will probably be regretting said decision tomorrow. The first was the low key Greenbelt Nursery School Tortoise & Hare 5K, a fundraiser to help send deserving toddlers on the right road to getting into Harvard or Brown. It was an easy run around Greenbelt Lake, which was perfect very last minute training for the run I was doing the next day.
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The second was the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, which I've been running for many years now. If you've never been to this event, it is quite a sight to see 50,000 runners descend on the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. It's also great when you're just getting through that starting gate and you hear that the elite athletes, many flown in from faraway countries, are already on their third or fourth mile. Other sites not to be missed are the juggler and the jump roper, who run all the while performing these additional sports. Okay, so the jump roper kind of walked. It's hard to keep a jump rope run going for 10 miles.
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The 2004 Cherry Blossom Run was the second race I've ever done in my life. My first was the 2002 Baltimore Marathon. If you're thinking of running competitively, or just doing races for fun and agging rights, I don't recommend starting with one that's 26.2 miles. For some reason, I thought it was a good idea at the time.
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It's probably better to go with a 5K, and you can find one nearly every weekend in the spring and summer months. To start your search, go to active.com or stop by your local running store and ask a helpful employee. Also, check out our May issue of What's Up? which will have a special running section in the calendar.
