#46 takes us all the way to Mason, OH, to participate in the Mason 5K and half-marathon. This race should be called Running with Suburbanites or How Many Mini-Vans can you Count. The race raises money for the Epilepsy Foundation. It's a good cause, so I will keep my snarky comments to a minimum.
As I said, there is a Half-Marathon and 5K. The Half Marathoners start first. Five minutes later, we (the 5K crowd) begins. Mostly walkers. Lots of families with several children.
There is some confusion on the route as at several points half marathoners go one way and the 5K go another. Then we meet up again. So there was bona fide confusion, and it wasn't the alcohol from the evening before.
Along the path, I befriended a young girl. She's wearing a Team Hannah t-shirt. I ask her "who's Hannah?" She smiles and says "Me!" She is also wearing a banner across her shirt that says 'Seizure free since October 2, 2010'. 4 Years. I ask her how old she is. She says "8".
So half her life is seizure free. Got to love that.
She and her cousin are running and passing me. And then I run and pass them. After three of these back and forth encounters, I tell them, "You don't want to let this Old Lady beat you." They look horrified. How did I know what they were thinking???
The course is pretty flat and uneventful. Until we get near the end. It starts to weave back and forth through the parking lot. We have the illusion that we are near the end, but like the lines at King's Island that snake in and out, it is a lie.
Damn them. I hate that part. I cross the Finish Line, well ahead of my young friend, Hannah, and celebrate 4 years of "seizure free" at breakfast.
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