How to Run a Race

You never know where life’s lessons might pop up.

Take running a race, for instance.

Start line.  Finish line.  It’s the same everywhere.  But it’s what happens in-between that matters most.

Last weekend we ran our fourth Bloomsday race in Spokane, WA.  Mike’s sister, her husband and three kids live in Cheney, so we have made it an annual event to visit them and run the race together.

This year my father-in-law joined the ranks of the finishers.

He had me and Rachel (you may remember her from our Olympic adventures) as coaches and partners in making it across the finish line.

But just like in life, you do not go from Point A to Point B straightaway.  There are roadblocks.  Oddities.  Humors.

A few of life’s lessons, from Bloomsday 2010:

Rule #1:  Find a team for the journey.

Rule #2:  It’s not the beginning of the race that counts  (a direct quote from my grandfather, Roger Berger).

Rule #3:  Expect to encounter a few looney tunes.

Rule #4:  When all else fails, keep moving.

Rule #5:  If someone with an accordion and a banjo out of the back of a trailer wants to cheer you on, let them.

Rule #6:  Remember that you are only free to run your race because others are standing watch.

Rule #7:  If you’re going to dress as Raggedy Ann and Andy, go all out.

Rule #8:  It’s always acceptable to be inappropriate for a good cause.  Especially boobs.

Rule #9:  Obstacles are inevitable.  Keep going.

Rule #10:  Laugh in the face of adversity.  Or vultures.

Rule #11:  Don’t look down.

Rule #12:  Count all of the mile-markers as victories.

Running a race is a lot like life:  it’s hard, funny, long (if you’re lucky), and totally worth the sweat it takes to get there.