Spring Arrives, We’re Alive, And We Thrive!
Posted by: Preztc
By Tina Coutu, LRRC President
As the trees are budding, flowers blooming, longer, warmer days arriving, it seems like spring has finally arrived-Welcome! And welcome to any new members and old members joining a new.
Last month’s column noted things that have never been done before and the then upcoming Little Rock Marathon, congratulations to all members participating and, kudos to all involved as this was an outstanding event and I can now say that from a personal level. This was my first Little Rock Marathon. Yes, I did many training runs, volunteered, and worked the expo, but for some reason resisted the whole marathon mostly due to the last 6 miles of Riverfront Drive. My friend/hero John Woodruff was a big supporter and fan of this race and I decided to run it for him-the third anniversary of his death was Saturday, March 27th. Although not fully prepared for this as I worked for Easy Runner the weekend of the marathon,- but I threw myself into the energy of the event as another motivator came with everyone’s favorite runner/triathlete Kirsten Davis (now of New York), who arrived to run this marathon for the first time as well. Also, I decided to push myself to get out on this course officially by using it as a training run for Hog Eye Marathon (another first-we shall see). My longest before LR was maybe an exaggerated 16. The weather was mild and actually perfect for this long training run with a couple of thousand fellow runners on race day. This was exciting to run the course passing many famous sights of LR with so many out-of-towners and locals running, walking, and cheering, the crowd support was both amazing and amusing. Many fun groups were out there on the sidelines. Governor Beebe was greeting runners as they passed his house. I was amazed at the crowd offering support, hospitality, and shouts, especially going up Kavanaugh. I was dreading the downhill on North Lookout by Allsopp Park due to a bum knee since mile 8.5, but I really wanted to get to John Woodruff’s Memorial water stop at mile 25 and yes, after all this I wanted that HUGE medal. A few things assisted me along the way to my destination. Yes it hurt going down N. Lookout, but at one point I looked up and was able to greet and hear Gary and Libby Smith of Easy Runner fame encouraging the marchers from the balcony of their home. Running backwards (took some pressure off knee) at the risk of looking foolish but it sure helped, and Allison Acott (aka marathon angel) came up alongside when it seemed like I needed it most, and encouraged and pushed me on. She had just finished the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans a week or two before and really offered uplifting words that worked until mile 20. At mile 24 while taking a walk break another angel, Melanie Baden, appeared. Although she did not have any shots for my knee, her bright manner got me back running enough to get me up to Dillard’s and the “had to see” John Woodruff Mile 25 memorial and the finish. This was a good experience in spite of me and I will do this race again and hope you will too.
Speaking of marathons, motivation, and inspiration, Randy Oates spoke to a fairly well attended monthly club meeting (considering all the competition) on Mar 18th at Whole Hog Café., Good food, fellowship, and strength of spirit was experienced as Randy updated us on his very hard road of learning to walk and ride a recumbent bike. Once an avid athlete (runner, triathlete, boater), Randy had to face the situation of possibly never being able to walk about three years ago and has made miraculous progress. Listening to Randy’s personal account of working very hard to accomplish tasks we take for granted makes a person stop to think what we would do if faced with something that took away our ability to train-where we would we find the discipline and desire to make us move and not wallow in self pity. Thank you Randy for sharing and helping us to remember we have to continually be in training for a marathon or any event we set our sights on. Not just give it a half hearted try but to be vigiligant and constantly be on it. Randy is an excellent example of what we can accomplish when we train and purposefully go after our goals.