My Pace or Yours? Run for Anaiah.

There’s no better way to spend a beautiful weekend day than running a footrace. You might disagree but a promise of a post-event ice cream bash, usually has most children (and husbands) eagerly pinning on bib and number.

Last Saturday, Madison hosted two races both benefiting worthy causes. In the morning, the 10^th Annual Madison in May supported Young Life. That afternoon, the Chick-fil-A Series 5K and Fun Run held its event for Hand-in-Hand Ministries.

I signed up our family for both. Sometimes my optimism even astounds me.

Dad and daughter before a Fun Run.

An injury has kept my running shoes tucked under the bed for most of the year. But with July 4^th and the Peachtree looming down the road, it was high time to get moving. The morning 5K went well, with 3.1 miles in under 30 minutes. A moral victory for a gal with a squirrely right knee. A knee that held during a ridiculous attempted sprint to the end during which images of  Scotty shouting “I’m giving it all she’s got, Captain” sprang to mind.

“I didn’t want to pass you at the end.” I looked up to see the smile of a nice gentleman who had been running alongside that last mile. Trevor Breedlove introduced himself and mentioned knowing of my bum wheel after reading a column. I suspected he was more serious than kidding about letting me finish ahead of him. But I’ll take infirmity before beauty any day if it counted me finishing at 103 instead of 104.

Later that afternoon while running the Chick-fil-A 5K, a young girl wearing pigtails and a black-spotted cow t-shirt fell in front of me. She started to cry and said she felt sick. I gently patted her on the back and babbled on about how the heat does strange things to us. I sweated and chatted and tried to buoy her little red-faced spirits with only an occasional glance at the women in my age group chugging past. We talked together until mom came upon us and made it all better. 

That’s what messing up a knee and having to sit on the bench a while taught me. It’s not about the race. It is about the human race. It’s not fretting if we walk or if we run or if we do a combination of both with a bad joint. There is grace and admiration watching gifted runners fly – but for the rest of us, it’s about enjoying a moment alongside friends and strangers being thankful for the ability to move forward for a few miles to receive a t-shirt and banana.

This Sunday afternoon, May 22, presents another opportunity to do just that at the Anaiah Rucker 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run starting on Sandy Creek Road. All proceeds will go into a fund for Anaiah who incurred serious injuries after being struck by a truck in front of her house. The Fun Run starts at 2pm and the 5K at 2:30. Sign up online at Active.com or register on race day starting at 1pm. Contact dusty.hawkins@morgan.k12.ga.us for more information.

The way I look at things these days, it’s not what pace or what place we finish.  It’s simply finding enough space in our heart to show up at the start. Or to let the lady with the gimpy leg stay ahead of you into the finishers’ shoot.

Anaiah when she returned to Madison. It was March 17...I remember because I was wearing my green sweater.