Race for the Cure 2004

On Sunday, I returned to Crissy Field to run the 14th Annual Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure. Although the course was the same as last year, the whole area felt different. Last year, the morning was cool and sunny and there was a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. This year, it was cold and so thick with fog that a newcomer would never know a bridge existed. It took most of the morning for the sun to burn through and reveal the tower tops of the bridge.

Quilted Northern Ultra, a bath tissue company, was one of this year's major sponsors. "Bath tissue" is a euphemism for "toilet paper". At the race, they had people dressed up as the Quilters roaming the crowd and had deluxe portable restrooms set up for race participants to use. I didn't bother to try the spruced up facilities, but now I regret not being curious enough to see what was so deluxe about them.

Pink was the color of the day. It wasn't unusual to see people sporting pink pajamas, scarves, ribbons or wigs. Survivors wore special pink t-shirts and visors. Participants were invited to pin pink cards to their clothing, with the name of their loved one affected by breast cancer, to help celebrate or remember them.

At one end of the venue, large tribute quilts were on display. Each quilt had perhaps sixteen panels; each made by different families in memory of the ones they had lost. Their love and sadness, sewn into the quilted fabric, served to remind us why we were running.

I ran the five-kilometer course in a time of 25:38, a minute slower than what I ran last year, but a minute faster than my last 5K. The next race I plan to attend is two months away. My goal is to run a personal best and yesterday's event gives me hope that I can achieve it. My legs felt good throughout the race and they aren't sore today. That's always a good sign.