This morning I was at the CIBC Run for the Cure. I knew there was going to be a huge crowd there but I simply was not prepared for what I saw. Seriously. It was an absolute sea of humanity out there. It’s mind-boggling. Along the route, when going downhill, you get this vantage point where you see this huge mass of people in white t-shirts stretching out for several blocks. I’ve never seen that before.

Our RR instructor was teaching both a new LTR (learn to run) group as well as my 5K class. So, the two groups came together for this event. The lineups for the bathrooms were pretty long. About 15 minutes before the start, a couple of people from our group went across the street to use the bathroom at a café. They took such a long time in there. The race started while we were waiting. They finally came out about 10 minutes after that. We ran over to the crowd, which was already moving, however, because there was so many people, the back of the crowd was basically at a slow walking pace. No chance to run, you know? After 5-10 minutes of walking, I said to our group, “Shouldn’t we try to run?” The rest agreed, so I started weaving in and out of the crowd. It was sort of fun, kinda like a video game of sorts. About halfway, I couldn’t find the rest of my 5K group–I think they just decided to walk, but the LTR people wanted to keep running: it was their first 5K event. So OK, I kept up with them and timed out their intervals. It was kind of fun. The four of us stuck together the whole way.

Man, along the way there was a lot to see. Along with the running types, there were young kids, pets, groups walking hand in hand, etc. Some people wore pink wigs or pink fuzzy cowboy hats. So funny. Some groups had a team name written on the back of their shirts. So many of them were breast related, which, seriously, if you have an opportunity to get away with having a name like that, I say go for it. These are some that I remember: “A-breasted Development”, “Lovely Lady Lumps”, “The Ta-Ta Sisterhood”. I passed by the CHFI team. Damn, Erin Davis seems tall. Besides a racing number, there’s also a sign that says “I’m running for…” You’re supposed to fill that in with whomever you’re doing the run for. As I ran, I saw so many reasons. People were running for their wives, daughters, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends. It was especially moving when there was something along the lines of “in memory of” included. And if there was no one in particular, people wrote “for all women” or “the cause” or “a cure.” It was all very heavy when I took a moment to dwell on multitude of reasons of why people were there. Personally, I was running for my aunt who survived breast cancer.

Despite everyone having a different reason everyone there was united for the common goal of ending breast cancer.

Overall, the experience was just amazing. The clock at the end showed that we crossed at 1:04 and change. Heheh. It doesn’t matter though, because this event isn’t about the time, you know? I know the LTR people I was with were beaming with pride at having done their first event. Oh, I remember that feeling. So yeah, that’s my RFTC experience. I think it’s something that I want to be a part of again next year. I might even try to raise funds next time. Some of y’all should join me.