My First Race Experience

I did it – I ran my first 6K yesterday and I crossed the finish line!

I’m  to be able to check this off my bucket list, where it has been for the past five plus years. Running does not come easy to me, so it’s no surprise that it has taken me this long to check this off my list.

This is not the first race I have signed up for, either; I’ve signed up for a couple of races in the past, start “training” but then as the days and weeks would pass, I would start to skip runs here and there (even though I knew I was starting to get better) until one day I would just give up training altogether. Then when race day would roll around and I would decide not to go because I “wasn’t ready”. But this time was different. This time I had the support of my best friend, Celia, who pushed me to go out and run and continue training. During the three plus months of training we didn’t train together once, but she took it upon herself to text to check up on me on a daily basis. Did I run every day? No. But it was encouraging to know that I had someone who was keeping me accountable…someone that I had to answer to, if you might.

The race that I signed up for was a 6K race in honor of six firefighters who gave their lives trying to save the lives of others in a Worcester, MA warehouse fire. I had been asking my 14 year old, Jovan, to sign up to run with me, which reluctantly agreed to do, but he later chose to be volunteer passing out water to the runners with his high school’s football team :). I’m so proud of that kid! So on Saturday, the day before the race, I picked up my shirt and participant number. I waited until the last minute to sign up (procrastination at its best lol), hence the high participant number – 1189.

On race day all I could think of was ‘*I’m so not ready for this*!’… I didn’t feel ready at all! But I showed up and that was a milestone on its own. Seeing all the runners there was a little overwhelming at first and it made me a little nervous to know that I would be running among all those athletes!  I made it my goal to just get to the finish line. That’s it. 

When the race started I started off easy but it was a crazy hot day and I started feeling it soon after. But I kept pushing...except on the hills. Them hills were a killer!

Half way through the race, I could hear this "cling cling cling" noise coming from behind me, and when they passed me I saw that the noise was coming from the equipment of these firefighters who were running fully dressed and equipped in fire-fighting gear. I don't how they could do it in the horrible heat we were running in! They passed me, but they inspired me to keep going...

After crossing the finish line I had sort of a hard time catching my breath and that sort of scared the heck out of me. It literally felt like I was going to faint! I was probably overheated because after pouring some water on my head I felt much better. I about died a little and my finish line pictures shows exactly that lol. BUT I finished!

So here's my picture at the finish line...

After I was able to catch my breath...

With the one who pushed me...

This was the first race, but it definitely won't be my last. Seeing everyone running around you, the crowd cheering for you and the rest of the runners at the finish line, gives you an euphoric feeling that I haven't experienced before. And that feeling of finishing a race is just empowering! 

After signing up for this event, I kept saying that I didn't want to be last at the finish line. Being last would be too shameful! I was in fact, not last - I finished the race in 56 minutes and 9 seconds and there were a couple hundred people that finished after me. But I learned something yesterday; I learned that in a race, it doesn't matter if you're first or last, what's more important is crossing that finish line.

~ Yamilka ~