Saturday 10 AM, Cook park, Tigard, OR

My parents never had a TV in the house as I was growing up, so when other kids talked about Disney movies, I was the weird-dumb kid.

Then one day I saw the Little Mermaid at a friend’s house.  Her parents were babysitting, so they sat us down in front of the TV (how Mexicans babysit) and played Disney.  My friend was restless and soon moved to her toys, but I was hooked.  I had never seen anything like it.

I went on to watch other Disney movies, and they blew my little mind.  Before Mulan and Pocahontas, I didn’t know that women could run with men.  Or fight wars.  Or grow a pair…. of legs.  I wanted to be just like them.

Apart from fueling my ambitions, I never did buy into the Disney experience.  I didn’t desire to visit Disneyworld, and I never played with dolls.  Instead of princess dresses, I just wanted to be let outside.  I’d build my own castles. 

It was a dark and stormy night, except it was light...and sunny...and morning.  For some reason, I and a few other Slower Lower Runners decided it would be a good idea to run 6.2 miles on New years Day.  I got there around 8 a.m. for the 9:30 start to get my packet and to get a good parking spot, and the registration line was already getting long.  I got my packet which included the normal random coupons for local businesses a reusable shopping bag, a pen, a sticker, a Cliff Bar, and a nice long sleeve tech shirt.  I wandered around for a while and was impressed by the timing set up; there was a nice finish line set up on the boardwalk and monitors that would show your time as soon as you finished. 

 

Usually at the beginning of December the running season is over, the big autumn marathons passed and training is being cut down a little to refresh for the next year.

I wanted it a little different this year. 

I probably shouldn’t be here. I’m recovering from a bad cold this week, even though the fever broke, I’m still not feeling well, aggravated by having to get up early, and whenever I have to get up early, I end up not sleeping well the night before, thus effectively putting me at only a few hours of sleep.

But I can’t help it. I’m curious. I’m at my first “FAT ASS” marathon. Although it’s being put on by the ‘RUT’ (Running Fit Ultra-Running Team), as I understand it, this is a growing nation phenomenon, in which someone with a little bit of time on their hands, enough to make some flyers and make a FaceBook group page anyways, invites anyone that wants to come out and run an unofficial race. For free. Yep, let me repeat that: For free.