I Fell, I Ran, It Was Awesome

Did you ever have one of those dreams where you find yourself in some kind of public situation doing something stupid? Like being naked while making a presentation, or showing up at the royal wedding in cut-offs and a trucker cap?

How about pratt falling at the starting line of a race with a couple thousand participants? And that fall, graceful and gazelle like, being captured by a local news camera, and seen by at least one person who knows you? Oh, and it’s not a dream.

Yep, that happened to me on Saturday at the LIVESTRONG 10k in Blue Bell.

Here’s the story….

As most of you know, and I’m planning to forward this to some sponsor’s who don’t follow my blog, so bear with me. I’ve shed upwards of 95 pounds over the course of about 13 months now. I’ve been following Weight Watchers and exercising, and part of that exercising is running. Last fall, while still losing, I ran in two 5ks, slowly, but I ran and I finished. In January, shortly after New Year’s Eve, I decided to set a goal for myself – a big one – as part of my continuing education so to speak. Maintenance is a tough part of weight loss, and I refuse to let it be my downfall this time. So, I’ve signed up for the half at the Philadelphia Marathon this coming November. Up until this past January, I had never run more than 3.1 miles at a clip, and for those of you not in the know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles, so I knew I had some work to do.

Over the past few months, I’ve worked on increasing my runs. I’m thrilled that I’m up to 9 miles at this point, and have been actively looking for 10k races so I can get more experience. When I saw the LIVESTRONG organization was holding a 10k practically in my backyard, I signed up.

Given the cause, I reached out to ask for donations – cancer has affected way too many people in my life, although I’ve been fortunate enough not to lose anybody in my family. A classmate died a few years ago from lung cancer, and many friends have lost loved ones because of this horrid disease. I was able to raise just over $200 toward cancer research and support.



I asked my sponsors to let me know who they were donating in memory or in honor of, and I had their names on a paper pinned on my back. As I stood at the finish line, I was in awe of the people wearing Survivor shirts. On any given day, I can come up with some pretty good excuses not to run – I’m pretty sure cancer would have me throwing in the towel. That these people were running 6.2 miles is pretty incredible.

I somehow wound up toward the front of the pack as we lined up, but I was ok with it. Some of the guys were rammy, but eh, I figured it was part of getting pumped up. They counted down, yelled go and the air horn sounded. I started off while pressing “RUN” on my running monitor and play on my iPod.

Then it happened.

I felt myself falling. It was fast and furious. I knew I couldn’t right myself. I landed on my elbow (I had a water bottle strapped to that hand), knee and palm. The lid of my water bottle flew off. I was disoriented. I do recall some kind people lifting me up. Not knowing what else to do, I ran. I didn’t want to get in any more peoples way than I already had, but honestly my first thought was “That’s it…you’re done. Turn around and go home”. Then I saw her - a Survivor wearing a head scarf – the trademark of someone who had lost her hair in treatment.

Pardon the language here, but then I thought “Beth you asshole, you skinned your knee (I hadn’t felt the elbow yet). These people have had or may even still have cancer. Run you jackass.”

So I did. The Survivors were inspiring – especially the ones who passed right by me. Thinking about the loved ones of my sponsors carried me through. I’m sure many of them fell during treatment, literally or metaphorically. I’m sure they wanted to stop, but they didn’t have that choice. They had to continue.

Despite my start, I actually had a great run. I’m thinking the adrenaline had a lot to do with it. The last mile was rough, but I ran across the finish line in just under 50 minutes, with an average 7:42 minute mile.

I’ll be back next year and plan to stay vertical the entire race. I hope some of you will join me and will be as inspired as I was.

Side note: my father got home from golf yesterday – he told me that one of our old neighbors saw me on TV. I said, oh the race? He said, no, you falling. Sweet. Oh, and to quote my friend J – “That is such a Beth thing to do”.