#44 Run Like Hell

#44 was the Run Like Hell race on October 24.

Have you ever heard of an event advertised on the radio and said "I want to do that"  ??

I have heard about this race every year since I have lived in Cincinnati.  Sponsored by raunchy radio station WEBN, it has taken on a life of it's own.  The run raises money for cystic fibrosis.  (A great cause.)  It also promotes debauchery.  A winning combination.

Sign me up for that.

The run is held just south of Xavier University in Evanston and caters to the college crowd.  There is a costume contest and the creativity abounds.  I am dressed as Wonder Woman.  Jo is a TARDIS...(something out of Dr. Who).  Rocky is a cat-wench with Egyptian flair....or something like that.

The race starts at dusk and pretty soon we are in complete darkness. The race is hilly and the main selling point of this race is to run through a cemetery in the dark. German Cemetery is off of Victory Parkway and is an "Old World cemetery"...really old tombstones....no lights... monsters... zombies.  You get the picture.  Because it is the 23rd year of doing this race, there are plenty of volunteers in the cemetery to insure that runners do not meander off the path and cause wanton destruction.  It is pitch black.  The race organizers have token flashlights here and there but otherwise....  it is a Black hole.

I have said before that I do not like running in the dark and I am delighted that I can check this experience off my bucket list.  Not only is it dark, but the road it rutted and full of potholes.  I end up walking through the cemetery.  Others brave the rutted roads and fall. (Could be that they were a bit tipsy to begin with, but they fall just the same.)  And bonus, of bonuses...there is a hill in the cemetery..in the dark.  Awesome.  Just what I was looking for.

Soon we leave the pitch black darkness of the cemetery and return to the streets of Evanston.  (Never have I been so glad to be on the streets in Evanston.)  Again....a sentence that I never thought I would say aloud.  

The race is somewhat ...less rigid than other races.  It's merely the starting point for the evening as the after party is what makes this race (in)famous.  There is a costume contest during the party and this guy won:

I mean, wow.  Just wow.  Rapidly approaching the finish line...stay tuned.