This Summer a good friend of mind asked me to run the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women with her. I immediately said “Ok!” And then googled how far a 10K was and said “Oh Shit!” I had never even run an official 5K before. But I have to say it was one of the best decisions I’ve made to date. I was told it was an inspiring event and I truly believe it now that I’ve participated.
I probably should have trained a little harder beforehand. But I wouldn’t change anything else. As our Uber pulled up to Boston Commons, the magnitude of what I signed up for really hit me. There were SO many women! I found out later there was over 7,500 women! That’s when the nerves set in because I had not run more than 3 miles consecutively during my sporadic “training” (if you could even call it that) and the course was 6.2 miles long. And now I’m seeing all these peppy women of all ages who look amped up to take on the course. My gal pal and I nervously ate our apples, chugged some water and got in to position. But our nerves were for nothing because we killed it. My good friend kept pace the whole race and we were able to run the entire thing without taking a single walk break.
The route was beautiful which didn’t hurt either. You start on Beacon Street between the Public Garden and the Commons and run to Mass Ave, over the bridge into Cambridge, run in a loop on Memorial Drive back to Mass Ave bridge into Boston and take Commonwealth Ave to Arlington Street, to Boylston Street, down Charles Street to the Finish line. I really wanted to take a shot of the Boston skyline from Memorial Drive but didn’t want to stop to get a good shot. There was a good chance if I stopped I wouldn’t have started running again!
It was amazing all the people along the route cheering the runners along. But one of the most powerful parts was all the runners cheering on their fellow women running right along side them. It was honestly so exhilarating. I don’t think I would have been able to make it if it wasn’t for all the camaraderie between the runners and the spectators. That’s me running back across Mass Ave bridge back into Boston! ->
I want to shout from the rooftops to all my female’s out there that they HAVE to run this next year. You will never experience another race like it. Well I can’t guarantee that as I have never run in another race in my life. But I promise it will be an experience. I hope to see some of you guys there next year!
