Pumpkin Pie and Humble Pie

I’m slow and I know it. But sometimes I can’t help the competitive spirit that jumps out from time to time. A perfect example was at the Satanta Pumpkin Run last Saturday. It’s a run to help stock the food pantry at the local church and awards finishers with pumpkin pie, hot cocoa, and a neat mug. But my pumpkin pie was served with a dose of humble pie. Let me explain.

Emory

In our area there is a group of runners known as South West Fun Time Runners, or SWFTR for short. I’m a proud lifetime member and although there are really no formal activities the group does own a clock and takes it to area events for timing purposes. The group mainstays are Marc and Emory. Marc is a good runner in his 60s and has battled through cancer in the past few years. He’s a great guy and it’s always good to see him at a race. Emory is, well, how shall I put this, a character. Think Duck Dynasty and you have a good picture of what he looks like. He’s in his 50s and has lived a hard life but loves to run despite bad knees, bad back, and lots of other health issues. He’s got a strange running style to say the least and is slowing down with each year. He’s run all over the country and just enjoys being part of the action. And when Emory was at a race there was at least one person I knew I could beat.

Until this race.

Humble Pumpkin Pie

It was a really cold morning and I had my plan all set in my head: walk 2:15 - run :45 - repeat. I knew I was in trouble when the pack pulled out from the start, and Emory jumped out to a block lead in no time. He was walking but he walks at a pretty good clip. I was sure I would catch him on the run segments of my plan, but no, I didn’t make up much ground because my walk is much slower than his. At the end of the first mile I was still about a good block behind him.

The second mile didn’t get any better. I was keeping to my plan and feeling good, but wasn’t gaining any ground on Emory. As we started the third mile I was having to face the possibility that I might not beat him and I was not happy. It’s kind of been a joke to myself that the day Emory beats me is the day I hang up my sneakers. Could this be the day? God, I hoped not.

Then Emory started to slow. He was walking a little slower and I was able to catch him with about ¾ of a mile to go. We stayed together for a few intervals, me pulling slightly ahead on my run but him catching up to me on the walk. We talked and visited and he admitted that he walks much faster than he runs and was just going to stick with that strategy. Hey, it was working for him pretty well as far as I could see. Near the end of the race I was pulling a little more ahead and did end up beating him by about 20 yards.

Always making new friends!

I barely beat Emory. That’s a hard sentence to say to myself. But the truth is I have been feeling better and my run intervals have been getting longer. I know I can’t train hard and don’t really want to anyway. I shaved 45  off my time from the Legacy Run. I just didn’t think of myself in the same category as Emory.

But that category isn’t so bad. We both have worked our way through physical problems and we refuse to quit! That’s not a bad thing at all. We’ll both keep showing up at events and enjoy the ride as much as we can. So I guess if Emory beats me next time I’ll just chalk it up to “S**t happens” and go on to the next race with a little more humility and determination to keep moving, no matter what life throws at me.

They treat their runners right!

I let my Hubby have the pumpkin pie (his favorite) and I enjoyed the hot cocoa. The humble pie was bittersweet but the company of people at the event was wonderful. What more can a person ask for on a cold Saturday morning.