The 10th Annual Cherry Tree 10-Mile Race for the Hardcore went off without at hitch in Prospect Park yesterday. Except for the fact  that the wind chill factor made for one cold morning, it was a gorgeous day for a race.

In our pre-race pep talk, our fearless coach,  Jon Cane, urged us to "run your own race. Don’t pay attention to people passing you." For the Jack
Rabbit Half-Marathon Group, yesterday’s run was a dress-rehearsal for the Brooklyn Half
on March 19th.

The group joined over 300 runners at 12th Street and we were off and running – three laps around the park — by 10 a.m. The cold was a non-issue almost immediately. Running down the hill toward the lake on the south-west side of the Park I was already feeling sweaty and overdressed in my two shirts, two jackets, face mask, hat and gloves.

My husband, son and daughter were there to cheer me on as I finished the second lap. Seeing them cheer was a HUGE motivational boost. As I ran past I screamed hello to them and Coach Cane screamed, "Don’t stop to say hello to your family. Keep running!"

I was high from seeing them for much of the third lap. I saw them again less than a mile from the finish. At that point the kids were cold from standing around in the freezing temperatures. As I ran past I could see whining on their faces. I even heard my daughter cry, "Mommy, we’re freezing, we want to go home."  I felt myself begin the transition from 10-mile runner to mom. But I caught myself and screamed, "I can’t be anyone’s mother right now!"

Nearing the finish line, a lovely French man that I’d been running with got ahead of me. An annoying guy on megaphone blurted out: "Take him, you can beat him to the finish line." I found some last minute energy and sprinted the French runner to the finish. As I passed him I said, "I’m sorry. It’s been really nice running with you." We shook hands.

There were no cups left but lots of huge jugs of water at the water station. I grabbed a jug and  drank to my hearts content. It was almost anti-climatic to reach the end and hard to believe that I’d just run ten miles. But boy did it feel GREAT.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB