I stand a day removed from the Shamrock Shuffle. If you've never done it, it basically boils down to this...
- Same organizers as the Chicago Marathon so much of the same course
- Over the top publicity (30,000+ runners), also like the Chicago Marathon
- The first major race of the running season in Chicago.
That last point is debatable. ;-) Big races aren't for everyone. And they're not for any area or organizer. But there's something to be said for hitting your pace and being amoung hundreds of others hitting that exact same pace at the exact same moment.
This was my second year running it (I'm only 3 years shy of my first 5k). I would have loved to get a PR. It didn't happen. But I was only slightly upset about that. And that was only at first. As I thought about it more, I was kind of happy. I felt like, despite the lack of PR, it was a good race for me. Part if it was because my pace seems to be coming back towards some of my fastest times that I ran last summer. But a larger part of it comes with something bigger...
A question that's often asked of a runner and often answered a million different ways, "why do you run". With 4AM wakeups on hot summer days, with the countless race fees, with the time spent training when I could be doing ____, it's something that I definitely have asked myself a lot! The thing is, the answer is almost always different.
Mizuno is asking that question right now through their Mezamashii project. They're collecting and publishing some downright amazing stories by everyday people of why they run. Mezamashii, by the way, is Japanese for "eye-opening" or "brilliant".
Why do I run? To get away from things. To think. To enjoy nature. To see places. To challenge myself. All of those have and continue to be reasons. But lately, there's been one theme more than any other...
Because I have met and continue to meet some amazing people! It's true, runners are happy people. It's also true, happiness is contagious. And I like being happy! I would most definitely call these experiences "brilliant"!
Last year's Shamrock Suffle, I had a faster chip time, sure. But this year's Shamrock Shuffle I had a much better race experience since I was able to do it with friends. Now maybe next year I can combine those two together.
Posted with Blogsy