My latest race was on the 4th of July. Somehow I have managed to run
our local race every year since the beginning in 2000. Maybe if I keep
running it for the next 18 years they will give me a prize for being
the only person to have run it for 25 consecutive years.

I have been to numerous races and watched as they gave people awards
for 10, 20, or 25 years of consecutive races, but they always
stretched back long before I started running races. Now I have a goal
to look forward to.

Shortly after the start I nearly ended my run. As the pack went around
the first corner I was on the inside near the curb. A young man surged
past me, cut in front of me, and stopped. When my foot hit his heel I
went down. Blacktop does really nasty things to bare skin when you hit
it at 5 to 10 mph. Both knees and my left elbow got messed up. I
managed to get up and continue running. While I ran the only attention
I paid to the fall was to wipe the blood from my elbow and paint my
face with warpaint.

I have been competing with a woman, Mary, for several years and had a
two race winning streak before the 4th of July. When I fell I was only
10 yards behind her. It took me nearly a mile to catch her and go by.
It took her another mile to catch me. We ran close together for the
3rd mile and with less than 200 meters left I pulled away from her and
won by a whopping 2 seconds.

During the race a young woman ran beside me and thanked me for pulling
her with me for the previous two years and now for the 3rd time. Then
she went ahead and finished 10 seconds before me.

After the race a man I never met congratulated me for running so well.
He had offered me help when I fell and tried to pass me for the last
two miles with no success. He said every time he got close I pulled
away. The course is rolling hills and he probably closed on me on the
downhill parts as I charged up the hills feeling good. I hardly ever
look back during a race except once in awhile to check where Mary is.

Now I look forward to my next race on the 15th.

Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

Shalom,
Chuck