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       “…Walkin’ Columbus,
       Walking with my feet ten feet off of Neil.
       Walking Columbus,
       But do I really feel the way I feel?”

The sun rose in central Ohio at 6:06 today; GameDay, morning of the race and I was ready to go! (Not that I run—Bogarts don’t—-not without bases sixty feet ahead). I was here to walk, though. For cancer research. For my brother.

With others. Many others.

We parked two minutes from Bexley High, and as our clan traversed Cassingham toward the track it occurred to me that better parking might have saved my legs for the Herculean task ahead. (I mentioned this to Margie, but she ignored me).

You had to see it to appreciate it: the beauty, the pageantry of the morning. Four hundred or so runners, walkers, supporters of the cause. Rock music piped, everyone smiling, glad-handing, as one.

I did my pre-run stretches in solitude. (Picture Rocky Balboa in preparation for Apollo Creed). It was a photo op, and I grabbed it. Moments later a stranger, watching me struggle, lifted me from the turf.

The loudspeaker urged us to the starting line.

“Runners first!” came the command. This was the cosmetic way of saying “South Euclid people—last.” (At least that’s how it played out).

Not just our family. At all. Check the charts:

The final five finishers in the event, bringing up the rear (in alphabetical order): Robin B, Bruce B, Amy K, Leslie S, and Gary Z. It must have been something in the drinking fountains at Rowland School. Must have been.

The whole “run” took anywhere from one hour (me) to fifteen minutes (for those who cared to show off). And yet, ‘twas so much more. Clearly it was
the culmination of several months hard work for a multitude of area residents pulling this off. It is the most successful such annual effort in our capital city.

Milling around afterward, I was only sorry my kids weren’t here…to share.
Maybe next year. Maybe next year.

We’re staying another night, and will spend it with family and friends. Tomorrow we return and will trudge the next steps together as well.

But this is about today, and today is special. More importantly, as we were taught as kids on Bayard, you have to learn to walk before you can run.

We’re walking Columbus.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 30th, 2010 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Up From Dysfunction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.