Race for the Cure

Last Saturday (May 10th) I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure" held in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Oh sure, it was only a 5k (3.1 miles) race, but the whole experience was unforgettable.

After staying up until about midnight Friday night to load some new tunes onto my iPod, I got up at 6am to get ready and get downtown to the Gateway Mall and find parking. Turned out to be easier than I thought, so I just sat in my car for about 40 minutes until it was time to meet my coworkers in Gateway itself. After waiting for the last stragglers to arrive, we headed towards the starting line to join the masses.

The crowd was huge! An estimated 17,000 survivors and supporters took part in the morning run. As I stepped up towards the huge balloon arch that represented the starting line, I couldn't help but look around at all the enthusiastic faces. Though some looked more somber than others, usually the ones with a "I'm racing in memory of..." tag on their back, the general feeling of the crowd was one of support, encouragement, and purpose.

During the race itself, it was both thrilling, and heart-wrenching, to glance at the tag's fastened to the back of the runner's ahead of me. I quickly noticed that there were two versions: one that was "in memory of" and the other said "racing in celebration of." Perhaps the most exciting part of it all was to see how many pink-shirted survivors there were mixed in with the crowd. Although I found myself focusing on the music from my iPod and trying hard not to crash into someone for the first mile until the crowd began to thin out, I also couldn't help but let my eyes wander from tag to tag. You almost wanted to reach out to each person and say "I'm sorry for your loss" or "Tell your aunt that I wish her the best with her treatments."

I've watched my little sister, Linnea, race in several marathons and I can know better understand why she loves it so much! Not that I think I'll ever be crazy enough to run 26.2 miles (hey, remember in bobsledding we only have to run 50-meters and then jump in the sled!), but I am looking towards doing some more 5ks over the summer.

Overall, the experience was amazing and I am so glad that I took part. And I guess, when it really comes down to it, that is what makes life so incredible, that we all have the power to do something with our lives, to take part in great causes, big or small. So now that you've read my post about Saturday's race, here's my question for you: what are you going to do today to make a difference in the life (or lives) of someone else?