The Queen of Races

It gave me a great chuckle to hear the half-marathon called the Queen of races...not the approachable 10k,  nor the daunting full marathon,  the half is like a lover who extends the connection just beyond what you might think you can endure,  seducing you into Her rhythms and joy at completion.  In Her many incarnations in our lives,  the Great Mother is more than a pregnant vessel of creation.  She is Diana the Huntress,  the restless adventurer,  the Messenger, on her feet to open the way forward... and a fitting symbol for the great energy 25,000 people will bring to the start line on Sunday.

Whatever is the unifying element that compels runners to run,  it's basic nature seems rooted in our anthropological history.  We have always run to get from point a to be,  to hunt,  to courier news, and I'm sure some goods.   To run feels somehow natural...and yet the bells and whistles of the 'running industry' reflects the same opportunistic spirit as any other...we peruse the various booths and displays,  sampling plenty of free samples, and actually walked out with new shoes.  They're called Karhu, their from Finland,  and they have a "fulcrum" to help roll the foot forward.  Good,  I thought;  I'll need all the help I can get!

It's a risk to run a race in new shoes...and yet I like the idea of demarcation;  to begin something with this race, to discover just what it means to me now, at this period of life and to see if I can 'run down' a better idea of what might come.  I had some nostalgia today, heading out of Miami;  I used to call my Dad first thing after every race to tell him my time etc...it was a lovely little ritual I will miss....
for the first time,  I will carry not just his memory with me over the line as I did at MCM, but Mom's, Vitae's...Tom and Mike....when I run I feel I am making animate the spirit of love that is in me.