Early morning on the 4^th of July at the Kenwood Footrace, a winding hilly course that eventually curved through a private vineyard, I made my running debut at 59:18 for the 10k (6.2 miles).

I was strongly encouraged by my roommate, otherwise I probably would not have signed up. I have been running for years now, but never before in a race setting, and with no real intent of doing so, until this race. My first invented goal 2 miles in was simply not to walk. My second invented goal, somewhere around mile 3.5 was to look around enough to have some memory of the run other than my feet on pavement. Then, at mile 5, I knew I was in love… and that I was going to pick up the pace to the finish line. As I neared the last stretch I heard the announcer’s voice encouraging me to make it “under the fabled hour mark”. My stoned runners brain thrilled to the idea of being part of a ‘fabled’ anything and I out-sprinted the 15 year old heavy kid to my right to come in #20 in my age group. Except someone had fouled up my entry and I would have come in #7 in my age group… if I had been registered as female instead of male.

All in all it was a pleasantly hellish experience, one that I intend to repeat in a few weeks with an 11k 1000ft+ climb along the coastline at Salt Point.

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