Sense of community and endurance (posted 10/23/06)

I just had to share an unexpected experience I had yesterday. It's funny, when I think about it, my whole day yesterday was a series of one spontaneous experience after another. I'll only be sharing one of them here though. ;)

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of observing the annual Chicago marathon at full throttle, practically right outside my door step. What started out as me wanting to take a stroll around the neighborhood to get a cup of coffee in the blustery cold morning turned into getting sidetracked the minute I walked out of my apartment building a little after 9:30am. I "detoured" to the end of my street and stood there amidst thousands upon thousands of dedicated runners. Some were wearing shirts with their names proudly emblazoned across their chest, others in more humorous attire like wigs and Halloween costumes. Then there were those that were just barely truckin' on at a snail's pace, but the drive was still there.

Although I didn't know anyone that ran by me as I stood freezing my ass off along the sidelines, the sense of community it instilled within me over the course of the half hour I was there was somewhat perplexing, a bit awe-inspiring. They were running a total distance of 25 miles or so to begin with, but the fact that it was bitterly cold...well, I thought they were brave for enduring the elements! I'm beginning to think it is true: Chicagoans are not wimpy people when it comes to weather! Haha. At one point, an older man who looked to be in his sixties, was clad in a tank top and shorts. I smiled at him as he joked around with a few cheering people that were standing beside me. "Why aren't you wearing a hat? It's cold out here! he exclaimed to me. The irony made me chuckle. As he ran past me, the back of his tank top read "Cancer Survivor." Rock on dude. Props to the seventy something year old man I saw running along too. Fucking awesome.

I headed back down Belmont and walked down Broadway, more of the same runners I saw just twenty minutes ago. Blasting music, friends and families gathered with their hot coffee to support the runners, lots of happy dogs tugging away from the restraint of their leashes. The whole thing was giving me a contact high and I started to feel a little crazy, an urge to be running along with them. It subsided of course (haha), but the people watching, sense of community, and motivation in motion was an amazing testament to the inspiring aspect of the human condition.....