Back on the road again --- finally!

 

I wrote this column right after running the Arnold Mills Road Race in
Cumberland, R.I. on Monday, July 5. The 53^rd annual July 4^th race (held on the Monday after the holiday because the Fourth fell on a Sunday), was my first real race --- also referred to as “in-person” during these confusing and
tentative post-COVID-19 days --- in 20 months.

Although I did slog through two virtual races in 2020 and a third this spring, I found those events tough to do, as they lacked that extra ingredient that a live race offers to motivate you to run your best; in other words, you’re running alone while doing a virtual race, and you don’t benefit from being pushed by your fellow competitors.
This race turned out better than I imagined --- and in the end provided even more of a psychological, spiritual and mental boost than a physical one as it allowed the participants to share what had been missing all throughout the pandemic: human interaction.
Enjoy this column --- whether you’re a runner, walker, stroller or just like to walk your dog twice a day.

This column appeared in the Tuesday, July 13 edition of The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA.

Link to my race column that ran in The Sun Chronicle Tuesday, July 13:
https://www.thesunchronicle.com/sports/local_sports/kessler-getting-back-in-the-race-a-long-time-coming/article_9629a3d4-eb89-5a07-b2ac-a946b39da177.html

Link to race story that ran in The Sun Chronicle Tuesday, July 13:
https://www.thesunchronicle.com/sports/local_sports/north-attleboro-5k-run-walk-to-remember-marks-return-of-in-person-racing/article_34bf9b0a-7663-59be-a342-851f1a41eea9.html

More than 400 runners kicked COVID-19’s butt last Monday (July 5) by doing something that they had longed to do over the last year and a half, but couldn’t because of the coronavirus pandemic: running a road race.
Toeing the starting line a few hundred yards away from the North Cumberland Fire Station, the 53^rd annual Arnold Mills July 4^th Road Race in Cumberland, R.I. --- held July 5 due to the holiday falling on a Sunday --- was blessed by a day that was ideal for running, jogging or walking the 4-mile course: race-time temperatures under mostly sunny skies were in the 60s, at least 20 degrees cooler than longtime participants were accustomed to --- and no one was complaining.
Indeed, while warming up, I saw the most smiles on runners’ faces that I’ve ever seen before a race, and who could blame them for being so happy: We were all ready to return to the road after being limited to virtual races since the pandemic-induced lockdown in March 2020.
This race was one of hundreds across New England that were forced to be conducted online, which essentially consisted of people running or jogging by themselves and submitting their times online.
But not on this Monday morning. With 70 percent of adults in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island fully vaccinated, restrictions were dropped in both states to allow the long-awaited return of what, post-pandemic, are still being called “in-person” road races.
That meant no more running in isolation, or with a few trusted pandemic companions. Like we used to do routinely, we lined up almost shoulder to shoulder, with only a smattering of masked runners sighted. Many runners were chatting and wishing each other well while waiting for the sound that we had missed for so long: the firing of the starter’s pistol.
That happened a few minutes after 9, and what a sweet sound it was. Things seemed almost normal again.
For me, it had been 20 long months since I had last run an honest-to-goodness race. On the weekend of Nov. 9-10, 2019, I ran what would be the final PawSox 5K for veterans at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket on Saturday and then participated in a Knights of Columbus 5K the next day in Wrentham.
At that time, I was looking forward to returning to racing in the spring, but the pandemic turned both the annual North Attleboro 5K to raise money for the town’s school music program and the August run in downtown North Attleboro to benefit the Community VNA’s hospice into virtual races. The former was still virtual this May, as restrictions had eased too late to allow organizers to pivot to an “in-person” race.

All that thankfully changed Monday, and it was inspiring to be back out on the road. Although the spectators seemed fewer than in previous years, those who turned out enthusiastically cheered the runners on, and I found myself giving them the thumbs-up sign every step of the way, even after slowing down while going up a steep hill over a half-mile from the finish line.
Buoyed by the cooler weather, I exceeded my three-mile time that I had run by myself in my last virtual race in May, and I pushed myself (by my slow standards) over the last quarter-mile when my daughter --- who did the race almost 20 minutes faster than me --- joined me as I made my way to the finish.
Moments after crossing the line in 52 minutes, 52 seconds, I was surprised to be greeted by a hug from a neighbor from my North Attleboro street, and in that moment, it became evident what I had missed the most about not running races: the chance to connect with familiar faces.
That human interaction is precisely what all of us have so desperately missed while the pandemic was ruling our lives.

Larry Kessler is a retired Sun Chronicle local news editor and can be reached at larrythek65@gmail.com. He blogs at larrytheklineup.blogspot.com