Miles and Miles and Miles and Miles….

I bet you wouldn’t think that hundreds of people would willingly subject themselves to a 13.1 mile run on a Saturday afternoon.  At the very least there better be a good reason for it or a huge incentive to make it worthwhile.  Well, this past Sunday tons of people gathered at the starting line on Landrum Drive for the hilly half marathon course in the rainy/snowy, cold weather for no apparent reason except its what some people call fun.  All of you runners out there know exactly what I’m talking about but the rest of you probably just think its crazy!

Every year that I’ve been at this college I’ve told myself I was going to run this race, and like so many other things, I had yet to do it.  So when a friend told me she was planning on running it and wanted a partner, I decided this was my year.  In the weeks leading up to the race we met up and ran a long run around campus and Colonial Williamsburg – which gave me a chance to unwind from the week and have a renewed appreciation for the town that I live in.  Race day was less than ideal, but the rainy start and snowy finish (which is rarely seen in Williamsburg at all) made it all the more interesting.  My friend and I were able to talk the whole way and ultimately crushed the goal time we had set for ourselves.  Possibly the best part was after the finish when we were able to meet up with and cheer on our other friends that had run the race and down cups of water and gatorade and fill up on bananas and bagels.  (Not to mention the fact that the race is sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, so some of the after-race-beverages are particularly satisfying!)  It might not be everyone’s favorite way to spend a Sunday, but it was perfect for putting off doing homework and let me check off one thing off my long list of “must-do’s” before I graduate!