Condura Race – Part 1

“Are you joining Condura Race?” Friends had asked me this over a dozen times and like a broken record I would sadly reply “Nope, I can’t.” Without the Little Bull Runner to pace me, I could not trust myself to run safe and slow turning a blind eye to faster runners. I was pretty sure I would not just run, I would race it paying no attention to my knee. And so I practiced self-discipline and passed up registration albeit with a grunt and a heavy heart.

Turns out I couldn’t keep myself away from this road race no matter how hard I tried. Yesterday morning, I woke up at 5 a.m., had a light breakfast, showered, and put on my running attire. By 6 a.m., I arrived at the NBC Tent to see hundreds of runners behind the starting line. It was an awesome sight, one that I had not witnessed in what felt like years (but it’s actually been just over a month) and I was as giddy as a school girl about it. Too bad then that I came just to watch and support friends who were running. Nope, I wasn’t going to run injured. What do you think of me?! I’m certainly not a stubborn, running obsessed freak! Or am I?

Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had as much fun as an observer as I did as a runner. I watched runners excited over the race that was to begin, but it was even better to be on the other end of the finish line as runners of all shapes, sizes and personalities trickled in from their 3k, 5k or 10k runs. I saw a mother and young daughter raising their arms up as if they had won the olympics, a serious runner enjoying the 10k as much as the marathon he finished last week, an actor who looked like he didn’t even break a sweat after crossing the finish line, and a whole lot of runners who obviously had a great time. I saw a lot of things, I tell you, and I’ve got the photos to prove it.

More photos of Condura Race on my next post…