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June 28, 2006
Running on Things With No Legs
I hustled butt over to Prospect Park yesterday evening to participate in Until the Violence Stops, which consisted of a 5K race to help end violence against women and girls. While happy to support the cause, my being there had far more to do with the fact that it was an evening marathon qualifier that took place in Brooklyn—a combination of three factors that are hard to come by.
The race was fairly well attended and the usual droning of speakers began at the start line about ten minutes before the horn. With only a few moments to go, Eve Ensler took the stage. After giving a brief speech about the origins of the race and some motivational words, she encouraged us to have fun and run with our vaginas. ["Run with my vagina!" the woman behind me exclaimed to her friend, "Now I’d need some extra training for that one."] There was a brief pause prior to cheers, then the horn blew and we were off.
I have always found races in Prospect Park to be more challenging that those in Central Park, mainly because one full side of the former is inclined. No matter what, it was obvious that I had not run a road race in a long, long time (one year to be exact) and my body felt the brunt of being out of shape. It took longer for me to warm up and I was definitely more winded, but I did finish with a good old-fashioned sprint and my pace was actually not that bad given my hiatus.
Despite the cooler weather, the humidity was still killer. Upon crossing the finish line and having my chip clipped, I moved on to the water and food station, hoping for an apple or some other traditional snack. Instead of fruit or bagels, the tables were stocked with red and blue ice pops. Nice cold, sugary, non-nutritional ice pops—perfect for a sweaty, hot run in Prospect Park, one which all of us—men and women—had run with our vaginas. What a pity it was that the pops were so melted.
Posted by callalillie at June 28, 2006 8:05 AM | Random
, Running
Hee hee. You are going to get some bizarre google searches hitting your site.
Posted by: Alexis at June 28, 2006 1:21 PM
aren't the ice pops a tad...phallic? considering you ran with your vagina and all.
Posted by: tien at June 28, 2006 2:13 PM
Precisely. Glad you caught my subtlety.
Posted by: corie at June 28, 2006 2:23 PM
Ah but they were melted. Is this fear of....
Posted by: Sarah at June 28, 2006 2:47 PM
Have you ever seen the particular bodega brand of ice pop called... beaver pops? Maybe it was a brilliant marketing cross-promotion.
Posted by: kowgurl at June 28, 2006 3:09 PM
funny that the other snacks you mentioned were low-hanging "fruit" and tight-holed "bagels". or am i stretching this all futher than it should go. i hope i'm not being too crass.
i'm new around here.
Posted by: hubs at June 28, 2006 6:24 PM
having my chip clipped
More innuendo?
At least the alliteration is suggestive.
Sorry I missed you at the blogfest. I was hoping to interview you, or at least get an autograped pic.
Posted by: Dope on the Slope at June 28, 2006 8:49 PM
Explanation: we have these chips that record our time that you attach to your shoe. They clip them off for you when you cross the finish line :)
I would say that when someone tells you to run with your vagina, not much else would feel too crass.
As for the blogfest, we were there! Just very late...
Posted by: corie at June 28, 2006 8:57 PM
They clip them off for you when you cross the finish line :)
Cool! My wife ran her first race ever last Wednesday at the Corporate Challenge 5K in Central Park. They didn't have fancy chips, but just had the runners note there own times when they crossed on the big L.E.D.
You can always count on corporate America to be accurate in reporting numbers, right?
Posted by: Dope on the Slope at June 28, 2006 10:58 PM
I'm hoping to run my first-ever 5k in Sept - the tunnels to towers one that runs through the brooklyn-battery tunnel. The thing that confuses me is what do I bring/not bring with me... ie. I assume I will need a metro card to get home. Hee hee I guess you can see my experiences with these runs is zip.
Posted by: janine at June 29, 2006 12:44 PM
I've run the Corporate Challenge before-- usually it is so oppressively hot and humid that I want to die after the first four minutes. One year they actually hosed us off as we ran.
Janine, definitely bring a metrocard. I always bring a metrocard and a little bit of cash, just in case. You can buy a little neoprene pouch to put the stuff in-- some can clip into your shorts, your shoe or like an armband...
Posted by: corie at June 29, 2006 12:49 PM
