Cooper River Bridge Run

Yesterday was a day of triumph. I, along with over 40,000 people, competed in the annual Cooper River Bridge Run, a 10K, 6.2 mile race across Charleston. I had trained for the race, because it's pretty impossible to run for an hour without being physically fit, and I didn't want to make a fool of myself. I did a practice run a week ago, and managed to finish in 60:00 minutes, a little under 10 minutes per mile. I was pretty happy, and pretty tired. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. My goal, I told myself, would be to run it in 58:00. Cutting two minutes off of a 10 K is pretty tough, so I was convinced that I'd set myself a good goal.
Yesterday was race day. I got up at 5:30 AM and crammed in a car with 5 friends. We got to the race and took in the sights and sounds. Everywhere you looked, there were people... hundreds and thousands of people. Really fit people, really unfit people, nervous people, calm people, tired people, wide-awake people... just all sorts of folks. After all, one authority claims that the Cooper River Bridge Run is the 3rd largest in the United States and the 8th largest in the world. After waiting a good while, we got to the starting line. People were separated based on how fast they claimed they could compete the race. I joined the crowd that claimed 49:00 - 60:00 minutes. Of course, I told myself, I was going to be on the tail end of that crowd.
Yesterday the race gun went off, and off with it went 30,000-40,000 people. I was one, racing alongside my best friend and running mate Anna. Initially, one could only go as fast as the crowd would let one, which wasn't very fast. Soon, Anna and I started looking for holes, and we started sprinting into every opening we found. Right off the bat, I knew I was running faster than usual, but my body was not feeling the strain, and I couldn't gage how fast. The race was eerily quiet, for being comprised of so many people. All one could hear was the thump, thump, thump of feet hitting the ground. Once on the bridge, the sounds were even more condensed. Thump, thump, thump. I paid attention to the sounds, I paid attention to the openings, I paid attention to the people around me. The only thing I did not pay attention to was myself.
Yesterday I ran the fastest race of my life. After a few miles of running, I began to notice that everyone around me was extremely fit. I was surrounded by the "serious" runners -- the people in professional gear, displaying typical "runners" bodies -- lean, strong, and focused folks. I was surprised that I fit into the group, but once I got accustomed to the idea, I was overcome by an exhilarating feeling. I just wanted to go faster. And so I ran and I ran and I ran until I saw the finish line. Then I sprinted, and passed every person in front of me that I could see.
Yesterday I ran 10 K or 6.2 miles in 54:15 seconds. I ran at a pace of 9:17 seconds per mile. I ended up in 4,957th place out of 28,641 people who finished the timed race. Out of the women, I finished in 1281st place out of 15,587. Out of the women 21-24 years old, I finished 228th out of 1919. Overall, I'm pretty darn proud of myself.
Yesterday I beat my goal by a whole 4:00 minutes, and I ran 6:00 minutes faster than I had the week before. It's a powerful feeling. Next year, I'm going for less than 54:00 minutes.