illustration friday August 31, 2006

Ratty Race, for Illustration Friday

So I have a little bitty obsession with long distance running. Marathons, relays, that kind of thing. It could be that I grew up in Eugene, running capitol of the world in the 80's, home of sweat bands and knee high gym socks. It was the birthplace of Nike when it was still a cool little company, and a lot of running stars trained there... Mary Slaney, Alberto Salazar, Steve Prefontaine.

It could also be that my family is really passionate about running. We did lots of little races when I was younger, like the "Truffle Trot" on Valentines Day, "Fools Run In The Rain" on April Fools day, where you ran in costume. (tricky but fun.) And the toughest one, a 10k called the Butte to Butte on the Fourth of July. I have amazing memories of all of these races, and watching just about any race these days, makes me cry and cheer like a crazy lady.

There is a big race here in Oregon that happened this last weekend, called the Hood to Coast. Runners relay in a 195 mile course from Mt.Hood to..(you guessed it..) the coast. We just happened to be driving home late Friday night when some of the runners were making their way through Portland. Ahh! They were so inspirational in their reflective vests and head lamps, running along the dark streets. I cheered wildly out the car window, enough to spook some of them and make them twist around suspiciously.

I haven't ever done a real long distance run, and it breaks my heart. It's a big dream of mine to pull it together and train for the long haul. Inch by inch I'm making a little progress. I'm hoping to be ready for the Turkey Trot by Thanksgiving...