My Parallel 15K Run

This morning the charity organization Climb for Cancer held their annual fundraising running race, consisting of simultaneous 5K, 10K, and 15K races. The location tends to change from year to year. Two years ago I ran in their 15K (9.3 miles) race held in the Haile Plantation subdivision in far southwest Gainesville. Today it was on the University of Florida campus. I considered entering it, but decided that the thirty bucks registration fee wasn't worth it. So instead of getting up early in the morning to run in it, I slept in a little and, later in the morning, simply stepped out of my front door and ran 9.33 miles without spending as much as a dime. My time was 1 hr 24 m 27 s, reflecting my usual pace of around nine minutes per mile.

I like this idea of running parallel to an event without actually participating directly in it. For one, it saves a lot of money. For another, I have much more control over events around me and am not involved with having to deal with the weather or adverse and extensive travel. Still, running in a real event is something to enjoy as well. I just don't see the point in going overboard with it...