The Former Queen of Indoor Recess inspired an athlete. No seriously, I did. Me. I'm one of the reasons another person became a runner. I'm building a 5k posse.
The story goes like this:
As many of you know, my crew and I participate in an annual 5k called Race for the Place, which raises funds for The Gathering Place, a local cancer support center. Race for the Place was my first 5k. It was actually the thing that made me kick up my running from the occasional mid-walk sprint to a sustained daily activity. I did it because a friend of mine - who was at the time a parent at the school where I work - organized a school team and I wanted to support the "school spirit" effort. This friend is a cancer survivor and an amazing person. At the time, running a 5k seemed impossible to me, but I figured if my friend could kick cancer's ass and work hard to support cancer research/awareness while raising a family and being a super-involved member of our school community, then I had no right to even think the word "impossible" about training for a race. It wasn't easy - I've said before that I'm not a natural runner - but I did it, I loved it, and I've been hooked ever since.
After that race, I picked up and carried the torch of organizing a school team for Race for the Place. As is the case for so many of us, cancer has touched my family and support centers play a critical role in the emotional well-being for patients, survivors and their families. I didn't have to think twice about taking on the task of assembling a team.
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| The Haserot Angel |
On Sunday my family and I ran the 2nd Annual Run Through History 5k at Lakeview Cemetery. Lakeview is beautiful cemetery, and hosts a fair number of well-known souls including John D. Rockefeller, Eliot Ness and Carl B. Stokes. Lakeview is also home to one of my favorite graveyard monuments, the Haserot Angel, who guards the grave of various members of the Haserot family (of Northern Haserot, a Cleveland-based food distribution business). The Haserot Angel is world-renowned, and for good reason. The photos don't do him justice - he is silent strength and frightening beauty. He is comforting and terrifying at the same time.
I could go on about graveyard monuments all day, but I digress...
Lakeview hosts the Run Through History 5k to raise funds for preservation and maintenance of its important burial sites, and I love any excuse to visit the place so we all signed up. At the start of the race, I spotted a parent from my school who had joined our Race for the Place team in June. I figured she must run races all the time and that's why she was there. I waved hello to her and her family, and off we went. At the end of the race, she sat down on the grass to chat with me and casually said "you know, Nadia, you're the reason I'm running 5k races."
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| Photo taken by Rick, my constant 5k companion and cheerleader, at the top of the Garfield Monument. (A note of Graveyard Weirdness: Lakeview's loos are in the basement of this monument, adjacent to the crypt...) |
She went on to tell me that Race for the Place was her first 5k. She had been participating in a treadmill training program at her gym - interval training that involved mostly walking but some running as well. To encourage families at the school to join, I often mentioned that I was not a fast or natural runner and that this was a low-key 5k that was all about building community. She went through sort of the same thought process that I did: "this is a good cause, if I'm going to run a race then it should be this one, let's give it a shot." And she did it, and like me, was hooked! It's kinda cool to know I played a part in the making of a new runner.
The Run Through History was a challenging 5k. Part of Lakeview's beauty comes from its topography - lotsa lotsa hills and valleys. The last mile was basically all uphill and my quads still hurt. But I'm going back next year for sure. To any other almost-runners: want to join my posse?
