Samaritans 5k

I ran the Samaritans 5k race last weekend, it’s the first time I’ve run a dedicated charity race. Samaritans does suicide prevention stuff, a lot of the runners and supporters were commemorating their loved ones who had committed suicide, that part was sobering. A group of about twenty people memorializing this girl, shirts with a picture of a young sprite-cute smiling girl with a shock of blue hair hanging down; it stopped me in my tracks thinking “Oh my god that little girl offed herself? Holy shit.” The main vibe of the event was really positive, all about support and love and stuff. I hadn’t trained for this, I’d hung up my running shoes after Tough Mudder, but I did better than I thought I would, finishing in 28 minutes. That’s exceedingly fast for me, when I did my TM training I averaged 16 minutes a mile which is like, a brisk walking pace for my grandmother. You know what motivates you during a race? Other people, who I think I’m supposed to be in faster than, running past me. “Darnit, that short chubby girl passed me! Crap, that old dude passed me! That skinny chick with the perfect makeup, perfect hair, and Prada sunglasses passed me, DAMMIT!!”