I have to say, I am very proud of myself. Yesterday morning, Mom and I went to Packanack Lake in Wayne to run the 5k. The goal was to make it to the finish line, not really to race. I have been going to the gym 4 days a week religiously for the last 3 weeks and wanted to see if it has paid off. It was a big sense of accomplishment for me when I crossed that finish line. Even though I was one of the very last people to finish - my time was 41:34 - there were people cheering us on outside of their houses.. one family even had their stereo out playing the theme song to Rocky! It was a lot of fun.
Well, as all events that involve Diane Bogert, there is a story. And I'm going to tell it first, because of course she will tell it wrong.
Mom and I got through the first mile in 10 minutes. We were very proud, but we were starting to feel the pain. We made a 'pact' to cross the finish line together, because we wanted it to be about making it to the finish line, not a timed race. Well of course she managed to get a *little* ahead of me and I eventually lost track of her, trying to focus on not passing out the last half mile, haha.. so I get to the finish line and Mom is nowhere in sight. I was thinking 'What a jerk, we were supposed to cross the line together! But whatever, this IS a race, I can't be mad'. So I grabbed a water bottle, caught my breath for a minute, and started looking for her. Still, nowhere in sight. I checked the bathroom, the refreshment stand, her car... no Mom. I asked the people taking in the runners (who were basically done, because I was one of the last people haha) if #285 had come through yet. Nope. Her number wasn't there. As if my heart rate wasn't high enough, I started freaking out a little. Thinking that Mom must have passed out and I ran right past her on the road!! I was physically and emotionally drained at that point, so I started crying. The workers looked at me like I was nuts haha.. yeah I know I will never live this story down. One didn't know what to do, so he just said.. 'Don't be sad'.
Well after I calmed down a little, I went back to where her car was, and it was gone! Where did she go?? Apparently to look for me. Here's what happened. When Mom finished the race, she thought it would be nice to go to her car to grab her camera to take a picture of me finishing. Well she must not have realized I wasn't THAT far behind her because I finished the race while she was looking for her camera! And that's where all the confusion began.
WANT TO KNOW THE BEST PART???
Remember when I asked the workers if #285 came through yet and they said no? WELL apparently Mom decided to create her own finish line. She saw two orange cones about 100 feet away from the finish line and decided that was it. Nah, not the big aisle of colored flags and the big time clock just past it. She just made up a finish line and decided that was it. (And of course yelled at the workers afterwards that it wasn't clear enough where the finish line was). So my time was 41:34. She estimated that she was done in 40 minutes.. which by the end of the day turned into 39 minutes.. then 38. So we will never know EXACTLY when Mom finished, or even have proof that she finished before me! :-)
