As I sit here, barely able to walk more than a few feet before my legs scream out in pain from my knees on up, the thought of the race that Ann and I ran this past Sunday on Governors Island in New York brings a huge smile to my face.Let me tell you why.
From the time that we left our house very early yesterday morning, 4:30 AM I believe, the adrenaline was running quite high for Ann and I as we excitedly talked about what kind of a race we thought it would be in regards to race course, environment and the overall excitement that we both felt of doing a race somewhere other than Connecticut.
About an hour and a half after we left, Ann found a garage in Manhattan to park fairly close to where we needed to jump on the ferry. We then walked the streets, including Wall Street on which we saw and went right past the New York Stock Exchange. Very cool!
Eventually, we made our way down to catch the boat to Governors Island for the race. Oh what a race! It wasn’t that it was a difficult race where we had to battle multiple hills. No, instead this race went in a big circle on the edge of the island where me and anyone else interested could look out at different treasures, including the Statue of Liberty. I was so determined to run this entire race, although that I knew I would be sore as hell in the hours after. And that’s what I did, finishing the race in 43:47. No, I’ll never be mistaken for an Olympic-caliber runner but so what, I had a blast.
After we finished, Ann and I caught the boat back to the mainland and walked around, from Wall Street to the 9/11 Memorial, such a beautiful tribute to that awful tragedy that happened 18 years ago. While the race was a blast, finally being able to see those beautiful monuments met a lot to me as well.
From start to finish, this was a great day. I’m sore but so what, I’ll recover….someday!