Today was the Second Annual "Get the Lead Out" Run in my little town. (My town is in an old lead mining area of SW Wisconsin, which sort of explains the name.) I ran the first one, last year, and I thought at the time that it would be cool to try to run every year, so that when they have the 10th, or the 15th, or the 25th, I can say, "Oh, yeah, I've run every one."
One little problem: We were way too busy today for me to run it. It started at 8:45, and I had to coach a soccer game at 10:00. The oldest and newest Little Jogger also had a soccer game, and Mrs. Jogger was taking the other three kids to a production of "Seussical, the Musical" this morning. So no way I was going to get to run this thing. So I cheated.
I got up at my usual time, jogged down to where the race would start, ran the 8 kilometers (finishing about a minute slower than last year), then jogged home. I took a shower, then went out and picked up my race packet. So, officially, I didn't run the race. No finishing time will be posted for me. But I did pay the entry fee, I ran the distance, and I have the t-shirt. I'm counting it. In 10 or 15 or 25 years, no one will know the difference.
The punch line is that I won a door prize. This race has a lot of door prizes. Last year, I won a nice reflective vest, that I've worn quite a bit. I figured this year, either I wouldn't be in the pool at all, because I didn't officially finish, or they'd draw my name, look around and see that I wasn't there, and draw someone else's name. But one of my neighbors stepped up and picked up my prize, a nice little windbreaker, and nobody complained. So, it was definitely worth entering. Next year, I'm planning not to coach, and I hope that I'll be able to run the official race.
(Get the Lead Out logo from Maumee RAP.)
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