Running for fun, health and to be a part of the great Louisiana Marathon Weekend.
Pic: Keith after the Advocate Cypress 5K, January 19, 2013
I just registered for the upcoming Advocate Cypress 5K race! It will be part of the fun-filled weekend of January 19th and 20th that also includes a Kids Marathon and Louisiana ½ and full Marathon! This brings me like a flashback to watching the movie “Chariots of Fire” and how running is such a great desire!
I have loved running since being a kid. In grammar school, I used to always win the 100 yard dash but eventually got to like running in competition – particularly longer treks, like I started to develop in popularity with 10K Races and Marathons in the 1970s. Usually, I like to participate in the Baton Rouge community benefit races like the Alzheimer's Memory 5Ks and fun races like the Fat Boy 5K.
In the past, I have done therapeutic work with folks dealing with all kinds of addictions – I'll be the first to admit that I'm addicted to running. I have been running regularly since my late teens, so I surely know how to get them endorphins going! My routine is usually to run on Wednesdays and Sundays – one of my neighbors jokes that she can count on me to keep those days straight with her! Sometimes, I wonder if I'm more addicted to coffee or running?
My goal for a 5K running time lately is about 25 minutes. In my 20's and 30's, I used to do these races in about 20 – 21 minutes. In New Orleans, when I first started competition running in the late 1970's, I mostly ran 10Ks. Some of my fondest runs were the Crescent City Classic, as I ran in the first one and did it in around 38 minutes – that was when I was really serious about running.
But as I have joined the AARP geezer age group, my running has mainly been for maintenance fitness and not for reducing times. So I approach this Advocate Cypress 5K with realistic ideas of just having fun with my friends and seeing other contacts to pass a good and healthy outing.
In some races, I'll start towards the front of the group, so as to not get stuck behind some “slow pokes” who can at times cause falls as people are trying to weave through others. After I pass the first mile, a friend will catch up with me and eventually pass me up. Richard, a few years older than me, usually gets the last laugh as he will usually flies past me at around the 1 ½ mile part of the 3.2 mile race.
Since I sometimes get stomach cramps from drinking water at the mile points, I take some quick swigs and pour the rest on my head as a great cooling down treat. As I closed in to the end of the recent Alzheimer's 5K, I thought that I would be close to 25 minutes but was bummed out when I found out that my finished time was 26 minutes even. But guess what – I came in 2nd for the 50 – 54 age category!
Recently, it happened that as I had been cheering on our others at the finish line, I met someone with the Senior Olympics, who was recognizing some members also in the race. Now that I'm 50 +, there are some benefits that seem to accrue with getting older – especially as more folks drop out of competition running and I have more of a chance to win! Watch out Senior Olympics – here I come!
With Valentine's Day coming up, why not make this Louisiana Marathon run a romantic one? I recall when I worked at a local hospital that a renal (kidney) doctor I know asked his wife what she wanted for her 40th birthday – she said, “To run a marathon!” I was impressed how that doc took her challenge seriously and after about 5 months, they both ran their first marathon together! They have done many more since then!
There is even some Scripture noted in Solomon's “Song of Songs” (1: 4) that highlights how even running can get heated in this RENDEZVOUS:
Draw me after you! Let us run!
The king has brought me to his bed chambers.
Let us exult and rejoice in you;
let us celebrate your love: it is beyond wine!
Rightly do they love you!
I ran my first marathon in California and tried to run my second one into Mexico from San Diego. Unfortunately, I had not prepared well and did not realize the steep grade of the hills that I tried to cover. After petering out around mile 11, I decided to just end on the US side of the race for the ½ Marathon! So for any of y'all trying to bite off more than you can chew, this Louisiana Marathon includes one ½ that size!
And with Martin Luther King being recognized next Monday right after the Race weekend, I can't think of a better way to foster his "I Have A Dream" than for all the wonderful diversity of our local community, the state and even nation to join together in the holistic health events at the Louisiana Marathon. To add to his awe inspiring speech: "As we walk (and/or run), we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
So come one, come all – even kids have a marathon for themselves – to this great weekend of fun, food and healthy living! “Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
Keith John Paul Horcasitas, 1133 Knollhaven Drive, BRLA 70810, khorcasitas.yahoo.com, January 13, 2013.
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I just registered for the upcoming Advocate Cypress 5K race! It will be part of the fun-filled weekend of January 19th and 20th that also includes a Kids Marathon and Louisiana ½ and full Marathon! This brings me like a flashback to watching the movie “Chariots of Fire” and how running is such a great desire!
