#37 Lady Tutu 5K

Let's start out with the notion that I hate this idea.  Really, I do.  I don't want to dress up like a princess.  Don't want my daughter to dress like a princess.  Don't want to pass on the idea that girls (anyone...for that matter) should wait around in "rescue pose"...waiting on somebody or something to save them. I hate that the "Princess" idea pervades our society so much that girls choose beauty over brains or work.  

I would much rather teach my daughter that she is in charge of her destiny.  She has to do the hard work, learn the rules, put in the time and she can be successful (and beautiful, and talented, and powerful beyond measure) at whatever she does.

Magic fairy dust and a sparkly wand...do not a princess make.

That being said, the Lady Tutu 5k is marketed as a:             "womens-only event created to be a fun, memorable and personally rewarding for you - the Lady." (I did not write that...that came from their website and brochure....I cannot make this shit up.)  This sentence does not explain why these guys were there.  

                            
     

Whatever.  Moving on...The proceeds from the race benefit the "Make-A-Wish Foundation", so there is a silver lining. Had to look hard to find it.

Before the 5k, there is a Little Princess Dash (about 100 yards) for the 3-5 year old crowd and another slightly longer distance for the 6-8 year old group.  Then the 5k starts. 

It is 8:30 AM and already 95 degrees.  It is sticky and hot and generally unpleasant.  The route starts downtown on Pete Rose Way, winds around the football stadium and back, ending near Sawyer Point Park.  Some of the distance is actually in the shade, so I figure it won't be so bad.

However, I failed to take into account the "princesses."

Young girls ...dressed in fairy princess costumes ...complete with tiara, fairy wands, hair bows and glitter face paint.... whining to their moms... 

         "this is hard.  I'm hot.  You didn't tell me that I would
          have to run!  My skirt itches.  I don't want to wear this
          anymore!  I want to go back." 

Crying girls with their hair in a complicated up-do.  Glitter make-up streaking down their faces as sweat runs off their forehead.  They have clearly have been sold a bill of goods that didn't match up with the brochure or the hype.

The "best" one was the young lady about 11 years old.  She had a fancy up-do hair twist.  Glittery make-up streaming down her face, as she explained through her tears to her mom with racking sobs "You just don't understand!"  She was hot.  And tired. And clearly wanted to be anywhere else but on the Riverfront doing a 5K.  Her mother, was stoic... stayed by her daughter's side, continuing to walk and not saying a word.

I felt her pain.  The mom.  Not the daughter.  I, too, have been on that train.  

Have you ever tried to run in a fairy princess costume?  No, me neither.

However, I would consider this one:

#37 is done.