The Long Run

Over the years I have both run the Falmouth Road Race and watched it from the sidelines. To be honest I think it might be easier to run the darn race than to have to stand on the sidelines as a spectator. Firstly, I wasn't in any great shape when I ran but I could usually slog through the race (if my sister was there telling me jokes) in about an hour. If you watch the race, it's a time commitment of at least 90 minutes, even longer when your three year old decides he wants to stay and help pick up paper cups.
Secondly, when you are running the race it's acceptable, if not expected, that you will tire as the race progresses. As a spectator it's your duty to cheer wildly for everyone who goes by, from those in the lead pack to the chubby guy with the iPod who's walking the whole way. Sometimes runners even accost spectators trying to get us to cheer louder. I encouraged the kids to pack as many noisemakers as they could find and during the race even told them to "yell louder," a request I rarely make over the course of an average day. But even my children of boundless energy eventually grew tired of the constant cheering, leaving me with a noise shaker in one hand and a baby in need of nursing in the other while they went off in search of trees to climb.
At one point a woman running the race turned to me as she went by and yelled "congratulations."

song: The Long Run • artist: The Eagles