At the beginning of June, I saw a thing about the “Dreaded Druid Hills 10K,” a race “By runners, for runners.” Their website quote is, “I love running hills, but that was mean and totally uncalled for.” The race draws about 500 runners every year.
I am not a runner, but in a pique of George Plimpton-esque insanity, I decided I must do it. There was something so Baltimore about this race, and I really have never explored “Dru Hill,” except for the zoo. Did you know Druid Hill Park was inaugurated in 1860, two years after Central Park? And it’s almost the same size.
The little running I’ve done has always been solo. Like for example, whenever I am at a beach I run barefoot for about an hour. Or like when I go to New York City, I have a ritual that I must run around Central Park. I have to touch all four sides of the park. Sounds kinda O.C.D, but it is a worthwhile ritual, trust me. If you touch all 4 sides of Central Park, you probably went about six miles. A 10K is 6.2 miles, so I figured, why not?
My training consisted of running six miles on back roads and farmland. I did this four times in the weeks leading up to the race. The word “dreaded” kept ringing in my head, like I would be running up these big hills and have a heart attack or something.
Keep in mind I am 6’1” and north of 210 pounds. I am also not what you would call “young.” Anyway, just so you know, I did not die.
My goals for the Dreaded Druid Hills run were 1) that I run, not walk, and 2) that I not come in last. While to the casual observer what I do might not be recognized as “running,” it is definitely not walking. But there is more to running than gait: how you look is important too. Do not wear the official race T-shirt in the race, or you look like a newbie. I had a custom t-shirt made by Rachel Younghans ( rachelyounghans.com ) with a prototype logo for Harford Film Camp ( harfordfilmcamp.org ), which is another summer activity of mine. I chose an old t-shirt for this, because you never wear new clothes or shoes for a race! The most important thing to remember before running a distance race is to put band aids on your nipples. If you don’t believe me, go run six miles without the band aids.
Running is a subculture, and I found it to be a particularly joyous one. I showed up at about 6:45 AM on race day. People were friendly and fun. Hundreds more came streaming in over the next 45 minutes. The vibe was festive and social. Everyone was psyched for the endorphin orgy. The event is sponsored by the Falls Road Running Store. (http://www.baltimorerunning.com) They organize the volunteers, traffic cops, T-shirt allocation, route planning, and so forth. What’s super cool is getting to wear a number bib for the first time. My number was 828.
At 7:30 I found myself somewhere in the middle of a mob of runners, and then the starting gun went off, or the whistle blew, or something. I don’t know. I didn’t hear anything, everyone just started running. Friendly people and cops are stationed along the way, shouting words of encouragement and making sure runners don’t make wrong turns. The pack stretches way out, so within a few minutes I found that I was running along with only a few other people. There were also water stations, where you can grab a paper cup as you run by. Most of my water ended up on my t-shirt, since I refused to stop.
After the mid-point, I passed a gal who had stopped and was walking. A lot of runners do this. Not long after, this same gal passed me. We went back and forth this way several times, but I never stopped running. Once when I passed her she had stopped to take a picture with her phone. Sure enough, she passed me again later. And she also beat me to the finish line.
When you cross the finish line someone tears a little tag from your bib, and then you stagger over to a table full of cold watermelon and strawberries. That was pretty awesome. After a while, the winners were announced. There were 463 runners in the race. In the men’s category, a slight guy in the 19-and-under age bracket (bib 831) was in first place with a time of 37 minutes and 1 second. That’s over 10 mph. The fastest female (bib 499) came in at 41 minutes 55 seconds. Bib 828 (that’s me) came in at 72 minutes 21 seconds. That’s about 5.16 mph. There were 45 runners behind me, the last coming in at 97 minutes 5 seconds.
As it turns out, the most painful part of the race was ripping the band aids off my nipples. My fears of the Dreaded Druid Hills were unfounded. I didn’t die, and the hills weren’t that bad. In fact, I held back too much. I plan to make my next 10K run in 60 minutes. It’s doable.
