Capitol 10K

On Sunday Jonathan and I ran the Capitol 10K here in Austin along with a few friends. It was a reunion of sorts as we did so 5 years ago. The thing about the Capitol 10K that makes it so much fun is that no one blinks an eye if you dress up in costumes. In fact, it’s welcomed. Five years ago we all dressed up in Superman shirts and wore capes, while our friend Dan was a chicken.

I had never had so much fun running 6 miles. People cheered us on, bands played music on the side of the roads, there was no pressure to run for time, and our friend, “Dan the Chicken Man” made the radio and the paper. Since then, we always said that we would run it again, but as it happens, life gets in the way, people move, and we missed the race each year. Well, thanks to our good friend Abby, who got the gang back together, we once again ran the 10K. This year, though, we had to go all out with our costumes. Our first idea was to run as all things slow, a turtle, a sloth, a snail, snail mail, and dial-up internet since none of us trained for the race. But, in the end, we decided to go as the Indiana Jones trilogy [the 4th movie doesn’t exist in our minds]. Jonathan and I were Raiders of the Lost Ark, Erik and Abby were Temple of Doom, and Dan was The Last Crusade.

It was misting and muggy the whole race. We were soaked with sweat; some of us were carrying props; Dan sported a leather jacket for half of the race; none of us had run 6 miles since 2005. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Of the 20,000 people in the race, it seemed that only about 2% dressed up. The whole race we had an identity for people to cheer us on. We kept hearing people shout “Go Indiana!” and “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” or people singing the theme music to keep us going. Several runners cleverly commented the they were “Keeping up with the Joneses.” We took pictures with quite a few folks and even made the news as one of the “crowd favorites.” It was our 15 minutes, or more like 1 hour and 15 minutes of fame. More than that, it felt like the reigniting of a tradition we hope to keep for years to come.

Plus, I can’t tell you how fun and awkward and freeing it is to run in some totally ridiculous costume. I think I might have to dress up for every race I attempt.

xo

nessa dee