Breathe Deep Cary Cupcake 5K

Thirty minutes before race time on Sunday, I was sitting in my car in a downpour while lightening flashed.  When I arrived at the WakeMed Soccer Park for the Breathe Deep Cary Cupcake 5K, things looked pretty grim.  As serendipity would have it, the race was postponed 10 minutes, and the rain stopped in time for the opening program and announcements.

Participants gathered to hear from fundraising teams about friends and family members who have had lung cancer.  The teams were about to run or walk in honor of them.  The race website explains that the event began in 2007 in memory of the parents of event coordinator Liz McCabe.  Liz is a former neighbor of mine who has worked tirelessly over the years to raise money for the cause.  I was running with my husband's mother in mind.  She succumbed to lung cancer before my husband and I met.

After putting things into perspective, we walked to the starting line.  The temperature was in the 50's, and it was good racing weather.  Our path was a cross country course used by Wake County high school students.  I've watched a cross country meet there before but did not appreciate the course until I ran it.

The start is a downhill slope that leads onto a wide gravel trail through the woods.  The start is nice.  Then you have to run up that slope twice during the course of 3.1 miles.  During the first mile a women with her small dog on a leash was in front of me.  I tried for a while to pass, and the dog held me at bay.  When I finally passed the women coming up the slope for the first time, I told her that the dog is a fierce competitor.  She agreed.

During the bigger loop around the soccer field area, I thought about this being a challenging course for high school runners.  When I was in the second mile, I caught up to a high school cross country runner, and we talked for a while before he took off and up the final hill.  We were both happy to be running for a GiGi's cupcake waiting for us at the finish.

He told me he had planned to run this one with all his might, but his coach put him in a meet at the last minute the day before this race. He is a double winner in my book!  He also shared with me that high school runners are not overly enthusiastic about tackling the hill rising up and out of the woods -- twice. That made me feel a little better as I gasped for air on the last, long, uphill slope as I weaved around those who were walking the course.

At the finish, I was handed a receipt from PrecisionRace with my time, division rank, and gender rank.  Then I talked with a friend who chose this race to be her first 5K.  Her family made it an event despite the weather, and when she joined them after her run, her girls had already visited the face painting booth and were eating cupcakes.  I also saw my coach with her family.  She had planned to run the race, but is injured, so her boys ran the kids race.

After the race I noted the celebratory feel of the gathering with cupcakes and kids and close knit groups of team members.  I went into the race thinking I would just see what the day would bring and had a relaxed time goal in mind.  When I finished, I figured I placed after viewing the receipt, but placing didn't seem important on that day with loved ones living in the moment to honor those who had lost their battles with cancer, so I headed to the car and savored my cupcake.  I had been looking forward to it for months.