John from my running group put together another great video from our City of Angels Half marathon on YouTube: City of Angels Video. He did a good job capturing the fun of doing these races.
I am realistic enough to know that I will probably never win any of these races (unless I keep running into my octogenarian years in which case I have a good chance of winning my age group ;) But coming in first isn't why I run. It is about being around supportive and encouraging people.
It was hot during last year's L.A. marathon and I had leg cramps that came and went after mile 13. The water stations had run out of water, and I desperately needed salt that was nowhere to be found. I was walking most of the time at mile 18 and just hoping that I would finish in a reasonable time. A woman from the neighborhood was standing in the middle of the street with her daughter and a plate of cookies. She saw me, smiled, and gave me a cookie. Then she said some words of encouragement that I don't really remember except that I started to cry after she said them. I was walking and crying down the street, and I remember thinking that this was one of my most amazing experiences. Almost nowhere in my life have I been at a place where thousands of people surrounded me and cheered me on and wanted me to succeed! There was no criticism of how I looked or how slow I was. Nobody was trying to push-me-down to pull themselves up. It was all about cheering and supporting everyone to the finish line. It was about humans loving and caring for each other.
This is why I love running races.
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