Karen and I set out in search of C&C to give them their race chips and race number. Karen heard the song that is my ringtone and I realized I had just missed a call. I had the cell phone on the mall of my back and the weight of the phone pulled it away from contact with my body—thus I didn’t feel the vibration and the noise level was high from all the other crazies so I didn’t hear the ringtone. Penny had called so I called her back.
Karen and I found ourselves passing the port-a-potties with short lines so we hit those. We finally linked up with C&C, let them hit the potties and went over to the starting point with about 10 minutes to spare. There were all ages of people there and every manner of running outfit from tiny bikini-like garb to firemen in full gear (which I found later weighs about 40 lbs).
The runners naturally start in the rear of the mob. It was a full 2 minutes after the starting canon before we began to move. We passed the starting line at about 4 minutes and were told the leaders had just reached the first mile mark. For inspiration “Chariots o0f Fire” was blasting from the speakers at the starting line.
The first part of the walk took us through some of downtown Jax and across a blue colored bridge (no I don’t know its name). The bridge had grating on it and the clear view of the water below disturbed a few people. Karen decided to take the sidewalk. Karen had been taking pictures but her batteries died. Somewhere around mile 3 we found a store and the 4 of us piled inside. I was the only one with cash so I loaned Karen the money for batteries. When we entered the store the clerk said, ‘You are going the wrong way, the bathroom is in the back.” She didn’t realize we were actually there to make a purchase. Christian and I did decide to use the facilities.
Karen now was full of batteries and did a great job of cataloging the remaining 6 miles of the run. People line the route as they do for parades. Homeowners set up chairs on their lawns and sit and shout encouragement to the runners as they sip various beverages. One homeowners was providing mimosas for the lucky few who got there before they ran out. Everywhere you looked there were dogs, children and bands. Every mile or so the runners were treated to live bands playing good music to walk/run by. It’s a nice touch.
We passed a Catholic Church and 2 priests were sitting out front with a “bless the feet” sign.
There was a man who obviously had too many Mimosas with an Irish Wolfhound on a leash.
We enjoyed looking at the different types of landscaping and architecture along the way. After the water stations the runners just drop their empty cups on the road. Since we were walking and made a stop at the store people were beginning to clean up by the time we reached them. We passed one little girl who had gathered a stack of paper cups as tall as she was—and she looked very pleased with herself.
Finally we approached the final bridge. It’s a big one and we reached the 9 mile marker on the upslope side of the bridge.
We stopped at the peak for pictures with a foggy Jacksonville in the background. Then it was down the other side and on to the finish line.
We all grabbed hands and raised them up as we crossed the line. We picked up our medals and headed to get a banana only to find none there. There was no beer, no bananas and only water and power drinks. We picked up bananas on the way home.
We averaged about 17 minutes a mile so we were walking about 3 hours.
We all went back to K&T’s for a lunch of Penny’s lasagna and some family time.
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