Do you ever wonder why we call it racing? Have you ever wondered why runners are the only people in sports who enter an event knowing full well that they have absolutely no chance to win? Have you ever wondered why do we (the slow ones) still call it racing? I am down at St. Simons Island for our spring break. I had the opportunity to run the First Sidney Lanier Bridge 5K yesterday morning. The question of why we enter races has come up many times over my 26 years of running, but yesterday I might have come up with an answer.

The new Sidney Lanier Bridge has been under construction for almost eight years. It is scheduled to open on April 7th, but the DOT allowed the Golden Isles Running Club to host a 5K race over the bridge two days before the grand opening. Running over a bridge of that size is a great story in itself…..but I'll save that one for another time. Let's concentrate on the question at hand...why? The Sidney Lanier Bridge 5K was won by Craig Alderman in a time of 18:35. A good time, but not a great time. The race started on the north end of the new bridge. Runners crossed over to the south end, turned immediately, and made the return trip to the north end. We crossed the bridge twice. I love out and back courses. I get to see the leaders for a few minutes as we pass...I on my way out....the winners on their way to the finish line. The 1 mile mark going out and the 2 mile mark coming in were a tenth of a mile apart. As I passed the 1 mile mark, I saw Craig just passing the 2 mile mark. He was running about twice as fast as I was running. After the race, Michelle and I walked back to the top of the bridge to take a few pictures and enjoy the view. On the way up, we met Craig and his wife. I stopped and congratulated him on his great race. I commented that after I saw him at the 2 mile mark, I decided that I could no longer win the race so I slowed my pace and enjoyed the view. We both had a good laugh.

Then I began thinking, I never expected to win this race. I've entered well over 200 races since 1977, and I've never won even one race. If I was coaching, my record would be 0 - 215. Why do I keep coming back? After all I thought, Tiger is going to tee it up next week in Augusta and I imagine that he thinks he can win. When Dale, Jr. and the good old boys get together in Daytona, I guess that Junior thinks he has a really good chance of winning. I'm pretty sure that when Bobby Cox sends his Braves out at Turner Field...he always thinks that they can win. Syracuse and Kansas play for the NCAA National Championship tomorrow night. I have a feeling that both teams expect to win. No matter if we're talking Little League dads, Mighty Mite League Soccer moms, the local Saturday night bowling league, or the corner sports shop's big bass contest…..they all have one thing in common.....nobody ever enters who knows that they have no chance of winning.....nobody but us!! Nowhere can I find a sport where people like you and I sign up week after week; pay $15 - $45 to enter; get up early and drive for hours; all the while knowing that we don't have a chance to win. On the bridge t-shirt and entry form I think I may have found my answer. Since this was the first bridge run, the entry form challenged us, "There will never be another chance to enter the First Sidney Lanier Bridge Race."

Every time we enter a race, we have an opportunity to do something we've never done before. We might set a new PR; we might win our age group for the first time; we might enter a Clydesdale race and set a PR in our weight classification; the list goes on and on. We can enter and we can compete and regardless of our finish place, we can win. I know I can't "win" any races, but I can run the bridge for the first time; I can win my age group; I can win my weight group; I can run faster this Saturday than I ran last Saturday. If I don't...there is always next Saturday and the Saturday after that. But on the other hand, maybe someday I'll find that elusive course that goes downhill most of the way; maybe I'll find that course that has the wind at my back for the entire 3.1 miles; maybe I'll start training and lose some weight and get my times back down to where they were in 1980; maybe one morning, everyone who can run a 5K under 30 minutes will decide to stay home I will finally win my first race.....but I really doubt if any of those "maybes" will ever happen. But I do know one thing, I'll find another race in a couple of weeks; I'll fill out the entry form and send in my $15.00; I'll get up at 5:30 a.m. and drive 2 - 3 hours to get to the race; and I'll meet the leaders who are running about twice my speed; and I'll still smile and yell "looking good" or "way to go" as we pass. But I'll smile for other reasons. I get to participate in one of the greatest sports on the face of the earth....I'm running! So in a couple of weeks, when I see all those runners, laughing, talking, cheering for each other, bragging about the last race and making plans for the next race.....that just serves to remind me of why I still race. It's because I just love to run and I love to be around runners. I'm doing exactly what I love doing...and there are not many people around who can say that. "NUFF SAID!"

See Ya,