WDM, IA - Two 66-yr olds Getting it Done

Today, even though we have lots to do on our house to get it ready for sale, we are going to do a 6K walk at Drake University. It is a community event as a promotion for the Drake Relays which are being held this weekend. Now, for those of you who do not know what the Drake Relays are, they are a big event in the track world. Olympic athletes use the Drake Relays as a warm-up, to test themselves against the best in the world in preparation for the next Olympics. In some races here, the London Olympics Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners are all squared off against each other again. Right here in Des Moines on the Drake Blue Oval. Yes, their track is blue, the school color.

We arrived at 9:00 for the 10:00 start, enough time to get our t-shirts, our bag, our chip (yep, Gary and Nancy are going to walk with a timing chip on our shoes) and our bib with our number on it. Well, actually, many of the people here are running for time but the race is open to walkers too so here we are. And, there are lots of other walkers, lots of families, lots of people with strollers, but we all lined up towards the back after the sign that said ‘walkers.’ There were other signs towards the beginning which said ‘5-minute mile’, ‘6-minute mile’, and ‘8-minute mile.’ That’s not us. Then the announcer said the race would begin in 5 minutes and we all surged towards the starting line, no matter what our speed. Well, we didn’t really ‘surge’ we shuffled quickly. The gun went off and we were on our way. When we crossed the beginning line, the chip on our shoes began our time.

What a beautiful day for a race, or a walk, high 70’s, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. At various spots, there were people lining the road, cars with local radio station insignia on them blaring fast tunes to keep our feet moving and cheerleaders from a local school doing their best to cheer us on. There was a guy dressed as Uncle Sam, there were people with signs ‘Keep up the good work, anonymous runner’ ‘that’s not sweat, Greg, you’re burning fat.’ Greg must have had his own cheering squad. A happy crowd. We were walking plenty fast but still walking.

We then turned the final corner and entered the Blue Oval, all decorated out for the Relays: flags flying, press tents all set up, VIP stands around the top, people cheering, fans in the stands and an announcer congratulating those crossing the finish line, some by name. WOW. How cool is this? We’re getting to run on the same track as the Olympic medal winners. Well, Gary and I just had to run. We stepped up our pace, obviously misjudging how far away the actual finish line was. What do you mean, we’re only half way around. But there it is, just a little ways ahead and I huffed and puffed as I thought that I might make it. As we crossed the finish line, the announcer said: ‘Now we have Gary Macek and Nancy Ferguson crossing the line. Two 66-year olds, getting the job done.’ Again, how cool was that?

We laughed, moved forward to the spot where there were some people to cut off our timing chips, then towards the table where we could get a printout of our times and finishing position for our category. I always knew that if I wanted to win a race, all I had to do was to get old, to get into a high age category. Well, I got 5th in my age group - and I was walking. Next year, I’ll run. Well, maybe I’ll run part and walk part. Should be good enough to get a medal.

Food was next: cookies, bagels, apples, cereal bars, water. Then home. Two 66-yr olds got it done and now they have other things to get done. Oops, one more cookie line run before we head on home. Big Gar’s got his hands full.