Run The Crim

On Saturday I ran the Crim 10 mile. This is my second time running it. It's the same age as me, so at least I'll never forget my age!

I had to wake up pretty early to make the drive to Flint. My friend, Susan and I had a good trip up and got to catch up with each other. We found the perfect spot to park, and had plenty of time to get our t-shirts and race bibs, stop at the bathroom, head back to the car and have breakfast (oatmeal) and sit and relax for a few minutes. We went to the start line only to realize we were 30 minutes early, so we took that opportunity to use the facilities again. There's a university food court type building right next to the start line, so we went in there. For some ridiculous reason, they closed (and locked) the bathrooms upstairs, so we were only allowed to use the downstairs ones. I don't understand why. I'm sure the stores and restaurants that were open sold a lot of drinks and food and other items to the runners. At any rate, we made it out to the start line in the middle of the national anthem.

This years' Crim had a record breaking 10,000 runners. It took us about 5 minutes to get over the start line. Susan and I ran together for a while, and then we each went at our own pace. It was an incredible race. I was moved to tears multiple times. The people of Flint love the Crim. Thousands of people sit on their curbs and cheer on strangers. It's surreal. My first favorite person was the man who said he was selling maps of shortcuts for $5. He also said that shortcut would make you faster than the Kenyans!

The Salvation Army had a band playing at another spot. Beautiful music. The postal workers were outside the post office clapping and cheering us on. There was a man standing in his front lawn, with a microphone and a speaker singing Golden Oldies. He just happened to be singing "Dawn (Go Away)" by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons as I ran past him. That was one of my favorites. Then there was "St. Elmo's Fire" playing. There were a few churches represented there. Some were handing out water with "Jesus Cares" shirts (with big smilie faces on them), others were singing hymns, and others were playing hard Christian rock. From the hymns to the metal, they all were wonderful!

You see a lot of tattoos while running a race. There's the girl with the obligatory tribal sun on her ankle; you see the man with the crazy hair and the prison tat of a spiders' web on his elbow... then you see some unusual ones like the woman who had a butterfly tattooed on her ENTIRE back. It was actually quite beautiful. And then some everywhere and in between.

Then there's the water. I poured about 3 or 4 cups of water down my back and neck. It was great. Some people handed out ice cubes, which was fantastic! One group handed out water in plastic cups, and as you ran past, you heard the popping of the cups as people trampled over them. It was rhythmic. Other people were holding hoses and aiming them into the air, creating a sprinkler for those that ran under. I ran under nearly all of these.

This is the best race I've ever run. I'm still a newbie of a racer, I think, but this is such a great race. The people that cheer you on are wonderful... it's like seeing the best of mankind. The people of Flint are so nice, so friendly.

I beat my time last year by 2 minutes and 21 seconds. I did take 3 or 4 walk breaks. I ran until about mile 7, then took the walk breaks after that. While I'm happy with my time, I think I could have gone a little faster and pushed a little harder. There were so many time clocks in the second half of the race, and I would calculate how fast I'd have to run the rest of the race in order to beat last years' time. I would figure out that I had time for a walk break. Or four. Next year, I'm going to try not to pay attention to the time and just listen to my body. If I need a walk break, I'll take it, but I'm going to try to push harder and do even better!

I love this race, and I think anyone who runs, or is thinking of running, should go to Flint and run the Crim. This race does not disappoint!



Distance: 10:00
Time: 1:54:29
Pace: 11:27