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Me posing in front of the event bus
This week’s highlight run for me was running with Dean Karnazes – Ultramarathon Man along his Run Across America in Pittsburgh, PA. I was a little concerned last Saturday when I had to cut my run short do to a gait-changing knee pain. I’d been looking forward to running with Dean and the pain gave me a mental setback to think I wouldn’t be able to run at all for a while. Fortunately, stretching, rest, and some movement exercise got my knee in enough condition to join this event.
The weather forecast for the day was an 85% chance of rain with a chance for thunder storms. Needless to say, I was worried but determined to run. When the morning sun broke the horizon, it was well on it’s way to above 70 degrees and sunny. Add some humidity and it made for a first sweltering race of the season.
Some 200 people were at the race including children from the elementary school sponsoring the Pittsburgh event. I’ve run in crowds before and it takes some quick stepping and sharp instincts but add 50 kids to the mix and you’ve got yourself a very lively obstacle course. The kids were clearly having fun darting in and out, sprinting the course, and being swept up in the excitement. The falls I saw kids take would have sidelined any adult for weeks but they bounced up and kept sprinting. They added a fun vibe to the event and fitting since the charity benefiting was to combat childhood obesity.
The course wound around the school grounds and seemed more like a maze than a true course. Three laps around including a nice muddy romp across the playground area, a few small inclines, and some sharpish turns. It was a fun, even if confusing, course. I was happy for the markers and the crowd to follow.
I'm over there on the far right in the back.
What about Dean? Well, if you wouldn’t have known who he was, you would have run right past him. He blended with the crowd and ran along with different groups of runners. I was keeping pace with him for about a mile and enjoying listening to his stories and interactions. He is a truly inspirational and humble guy. Never once was he a braggart, elitist, or isolationist in the event. He took time to talk with people, cheer kids on, give high fives, and offer some encouragement. When greeted with “you’re an inspiration” he countered with “not me, you are a real inspiration”. I suppose you get used to interacting with these crowds and these types of comments but it does make you feel good to know he’s an amazing athlete who is just a fan of the sport like us.
The event surrounding the run/race was energizing. Someone from Dean’s crew entertained the crowd prior to the run with stories from the road, some FAQs, and some local interviews including some Boston Marathoners, the Pirate Penguin, and a local newscaster. Registration, combined with the kids offloading was a mess but expected, post race shirts were neatly laid out and easy to grab and go. The final pictures of the crowd went well too. Dean’s crew has some practice with this and it was clearly directed.
It was clear that this 5K, like the others, was a stop on a longer and more important journey. Coordinators whisked Dean in and out of the event quickly and cleanly. I’m certain that if given the chance, he’d spend all day with the crowds but that won’t get you closer to the 3000-miles you need to run in a tight period of time. My wife explained that someone wanted a book autograph and one of the handlers explained that “Dean wouldn’t have time for that right now”. My wife had some vantage points for the post-run activities, and was able to discern the fast-paced handling. This isn’t a criticism but an observation. I totally get that making the journey requires some sacrifice and I’m sure most budding long distance runners know what sacrifices need to be made. Still, I would have like a chance to get an autograph on my Bib# or something. I’ll just have to get in shape enough to hit an Ultra and find Dean along the way.
Overall, I was happy to be there, happy to run along with Dean (I even paced some Boston Marathoners…guilty pleasure), and happy to be part of something I wished was around when I was a kid — someone to advocate for kids being healthy and active (besides my pompous ass of a gym teacher).
Olivia and me watching the pre-run activities
The best part…Olivia was transfixed with the event, watching the crowd and listening to the stories from the road. I left more motivated to run longer and run with my family. While this event didn’t start us on a healthy lifestyle, it did give us the energy to continue being healthy and active. Which was probably the point.
While there are only a few miles left and likely only a couple of 5K’s left with Dean. Make the trip and do it. It was a unique experience and I was privileged to be there.
Image Sources: Maggie Berta, thanks honey.
It’s a metaphor for life, running in circles, and yesterday while out on my short run I realized that I’ve been literally and figuratively running in circles. In the literal sense I got my exercise but never really went far running a half mile trail near my home. In the figurative sense, the half-mile trail I’d been running multiple times in a session was symbolic of my life at work – running but without a destination or productive journey.
Saturday’s are my long run days with 
Yesterday
I work from home and haven’t used an alarm to wake up short of being on a business trip or needing to hit the road at a particular early hour. This means that the clock next to my bed is largely decoration. My body clock does the rest. I usually wake up in plenty of time for work and usually enough time to get my runs in before that. However, these last few days have not given me enough time to get ready, run, and get to work on time.
Last week something interesting popped across my 
This past Saturday was the 
