First Race!

Iris competed in her first footrace, the West End 3k, yesterday. I was so proud. She chose a tough one for a beginner. Boulder is at about 5340 feet above sea level, where we live. The weather was sunny, dry and hot (over 90 F). She said she knew she wasn't going to win, coming from sea level, but she just didn't want to come in last. She did great as you can see from the results. Notice how respectably she placed amongst the 5 year olds. She is also the only entrant from sea level.

It was the first time I actually watched her run a long distance (not across a playground or down the driveway). She has excellent form with no discernible bounce, almost no motion above the waist and a long stride. I asked her who taught her how to do that. She said that is just how she runs. She is a natural. Did I mention how proud I am of her?

I forgot to pack my camera. Otherwise, I would post lots of pictures of spectacular scenery and wildflowers.

Digression: The race started at the west end of the Pearl Street Mall and went westward to the roundabout at 4th and Pearl. My baby ran right by my old grad school apartment at 4th and Pearl! Of course, the area was not so ritzy back then. As my old roommate (a human geography grad student) put it, graduate students are the shock troops of gentrification. (My apologies to Margaret Atwood who wrote first in Cat's Cradle that artists are the shock troops of gentrification.) When we first moved there, homeless people slept among the weeds that grew between the decrepit rental houses and apartment buildings. I awoke every morning to the sound and smell of a homeless man peeing on the tree outside my bedroom window.