Once Upon a River Run…

There is a quote that I have loved since I was a teenager, when I first discovered Jim Morrison and The Doors.  “There are things known, and there are things unknown, and in between are the Doors.”  At certain points in my life it has meant different things; some far more overly dramatic than others. I found myself recently at the door to a major unknown, and per usual I was nervous.

It all started about a month prior.  My coworker, an avid runner who has completed several races asked me about doing the Gate River Run with him. Y’all listen..I laughed at him at first.  No I was not going to a nine and a half mile race with you-FOOL.  Then the more I talked to him, the idea kind of took hold.  He was encouraging and informative, offered to help me train, and soon enough…getting a message from me that I had registered.  So I was kind of amped, just like I was when I registered for the Savage Race.  If you aren’t familiar with that, its the crazy hard mud and guts with obstacles and a bruised, bloody Suzy Doozer that I talk about in a post that also involves me drunk in a Smokey the Bear hat..what can I say-I like to live on the edge.  Anyway, I was excited to do this race, but knew that even with a lot of training; there was no way I could run the whole thing and keep pace with my treadmill loving friend.  What I had to do was talk someone ELSE into doing it at a slower pace with me. Enter my Road trip and Yelp Bestie, and I was ready to walk and roll.

I did train in the time leading up to the race, and even got my boy Waylon out for some runs and learned that my tiny sidekick can jog 3 miles!  I did not train on a treadmill like most of the serious runners do, as I have a deep rooted fear of them after an accident in my early Navy days. I beat feet out on the side of the road.  Cars honked at me, I got into verbal altercations with other runners on the trail, and I tripped on Waylon’s leash more times than I would like to admit.  Between that and some other recreational cardio-ing, I was sure I could at least complete.  The idea of trying to beat any time or to compete in my age bracket were not on my radar.  This being my first year out, I kind of just wanted to get it under my belt and know what the experience was like.

I think it was the week before the race when I realized..oh wait.  I purposely took off work, and paid money to go do this. To say that I was starting to question my sanity was a huge understatement.  I knew that it was going to be fun in some ways, but what about all the people that I had heard about passing out, throwing up, being carted away by medical? What if Suzy Doozer became another victim of the Green Monster (we will get to that later)? I was starting to think that this might not be the best idea I had ever hatched.  I was even asking friends for help with coming up with a reason I couldn’t go.  But then suddenly it was the Thursday before the race, and my coworker and I were meeting up to go pick up our race bibs and t shirts and swag bags.  You really do get some nice items to commemorate the race, even a pint glass. So we met up and wandered around the “runners expo” which I said, ok so this is basically a mall for healthy people? and he agreed that was a fair assessment.  There is all sorts of gear and food and clothes for people that really really dedicate their lives to fitness. And from that moment on, I was officially participating in the Gate River Run.

The race was first held in 1978 when it was known as the Jacksonville River Run.  In 2007 this 15K race became the largest  in the country.  The Gate River Run, or GRR is one of Jacksonville’s most popular annual events.  There are people from all over the world that travel here to run it.  And it takes place 10 minutes from where I live.  I guess I’m a pretty lucky gal.  Roughly 18,000 people signed up, and looking at the finishing statistics, only around 12,600 finished.  This could be people that registered and never came, but more than that, I am certain…its the casualties we saw along the way.

I didn’t sleep well the night before the race. Partially from nerves, partially from not being used to sleeping at night, and also I kept thinking I overslept and missed the whole thing.  It was kind of terrible. I had to get up stupid early anyway, so at some point; I don’t remember what time it was, I just gave up on trying to sleep.  I strapped on my snazzy headband and running gear, and away I went to get my running mates.  It was cold that morning, but we were all energized, and I added to the fun by reminding everyone that I am a rapper in the car on the way downtown. Since I knew that parking would be madness, and my nearby workplace the Police Memorial Building is just down the street, we went ahead and parked there.  On the way to the race starting areas, my coworker and I smoked a cigarette ( don’t judge) and watched all the people that were running on the way to the run..like really?  Pretty Soon us gals were headed over to our area where the slower folks were going to be starting and my tread loving friend took off to where the fast kids start.  There were costumes, and team outfits, someone dressed like Forrest Gump, someone already drunk…some firefighters running it in full gear to which I might have exclaimed..I AM ON FIRE!  Point being, it was a mix of everyone, young and old and everything you can imagine.  I like to see that in all this chaos and huge melting pot of people ..we all had that one goal ahead of us..to conquer.  With the announcers cheering us on, and the song What doesn’t Kill you makes you Stronger blaring around us, we started on our way.

Along the 9.3 miles we made jokes, we met friends, we picked up bloody mary’s, we threw water cups on the GROUND to join all the others piled up, we listened to bands playing at about every mile marker, we complained a little, we laughed a ton, we learned some new things about each other. The race winds you all through downtown Jacksonville leading up to the The Main street Bridge and across it.  For those that don’t know, this is the bridge I cross daily to get to and from work.  Its a grated draw bridge that seems to only need to be up if I am running late.  It was a little terrifying to look down and see the river below, and it seemed A LOT steeper and longer than when I drive over it.  On the other side of the bridge is beautiful San Marco.  There are shops and restaurants lining the streets at first, and then you get into neighborhoods with beautiful landscaping and doors so pretty us “commoners” were awe struck seeing them.  I joked that they all had golden retrievers and were setting up coffee and snacks to watch us all parade down the streets. Some houses had music playing from speakers they pulled out onto their front lawns, some had signs and adult beverages to hand out.  They were all so encouraging and wonderful.  Some of them, along with the volunteers that were handing us water shouted our names and I’m a little embarrassed to admit it took me several miles to realize they knew my name cause it was on my shirt!   All of these things to see and enjoy were leading up to a huge one….THE GREEN MONSTER..other wise known as the Hart bridge, this is the final accomplishment, and you are in the home stretch.

Approaching the Green Monster, a bridge that is 3,844 feet long, spans the St Johns River, and was named in 1967 after Isaiah David Hart, after the founder of Jacksonville. It was listed in 1999 as the 19th longest bridge in the World..and we were walking this thing!! There was more music, there was more people cheering us on, there was a drunk new friend that we watched almost fall off the dang bridge.  My race mate had started to have some pain in her hips and wasn’t feeling the best, and had thought that she would have to jump on the tram car that was at the very back to pick up stragglers.  I started calling it the lame truck and she soon put that idea out of her mind.  Once you reach the top of this massive green bridge, the air feels different somehow.   You are still tired and hurting and hot..but you know that you have almost completed what you came to do.  I think that last mile was a flurry of emotions for me, and I am not ashamed to admit that I actually got goose bumps and a whole second wind of energy as we worked our way down into town again.  I was keeping my limpy pal steady on her feet, and we crossed that finish line with smiles on our faces that can only be earned by truly conquering.

Once we got our FINISHER medals, and a bottle of water, we sat the eff down for a little bit, and then made our way to a local watering hole for some much needed celebration beers. My coworker and his family had been there a while after he finished and we were greeted like champions.  This place is a pretty quick walk from where all the post race festivities were and it was jam packed with others having just earned a drink or three.  We stayed there for a little while and then decided that we should try to find somewhere else not as busy and get a meal of food in us. After some brunch was installed and we were headed home, I started to think about how different I felt than I had a few hour prior.  When I arrived home, I was sore, I had sunburn, a bruised toe, and a film of sweat that can’t be described, but it was all worth it, and hands down another savage, awesome accomplishment.

I am no longer sore in my legs, and my toe has healed.  I have some pretty funny looking tank top tan lines, and I just ordered a professional picture from race day to hang in my living room.  What’s kind of funny is that a few years ago I went to one of those places where you paint and drink wine..and I painted the Hart bridge, hows that for foreshadowing.  I will hang that race picture proudly and remember another day that I was standing there..and could have stayed safely in the known. I instead chose to walk up and kick in the door ..walking straight into the unknown, and found a place for myself.