I Am Beautiful 5K Run

After coming home pretty late from partying at Moloko the night before, I ran a 5K in Johannesburg today.  After I completed the race, I regretted chickening out and not running the 10K. There were thousands of people out there of all races, ages, and sizes.  Looking out at the sea of people who covered the road like thousands of little ants, it made me feel like I could fall in love in Africa.  I definitely saw some of the future of African distance running.  There were kids as small as eight and nine running their little hearts out with bare feet.  The race was called "I Am Beautiful" and I was given a breast cancer awareness ribbon.  There was not much information behind the purpose of the walk but it appeared to be geared toward promoting women.  Some of the men in the race were dressed in drag as they competed.  The outfits ranged from fishnet tights, to wigs, dresses, and skirts.  Unfortunately the idea of running with my camera was not appealing, though I regret not being able to have pictures to capture the moments.

runners headed home after the race

Because there were thousands of people in the race, the organizers did not have a solid method for tracking your time as you crossed the finish line--they simply took our bib numbers and shuffled us along. We also weren't given a chip, so you were on your honor to run the entire course.  There were also real runners who started before the rest of the rest of us, and I assume they were running for prize money.  Every competitor received a goody bag with an array of items ranging from vitamins, to hand sanitizer (which is hard to come by in this country), to trail mix.  After only a week of training in much higher altitude and hilly terrain, I was pleased with my performance.

They closed down only half of the main road during the race, thus traffic was extremely backed up.  With the usual amount of traffic in Joburg on a regular day, I am glad I did not have to sit in the traffic on race day.

                                                                                                
If more people in the States became more active in events like this, we would lose our number one ranking as having the most obese people in the world.  Brie, Charlotte, and I met up at the end of the race and celebrated our completion. There will  be a half and a full marathon in Soweto in November that I hope to be prepared to run.

holding on to Charlotte after the race

Brie and I proud of ourselves after the race