Running in the rain

By Karen McNew
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: September 5, 2008

Running in the rain is not all that bad… it depends on your mood and the temperature..  in the past I have chosen to run in the rain just because it makes you feel that much stronger when you are finished… but it has been a while since I have done that…

I was honored to be asked to be a part of the Johnny Casa 5 miler at LakeWatch plantation right next to the Smith Mountain Lake YMCA Saturday morning… When Patrick and Jeff started talking about “Hanna” and how she was going to be getting here Friday night and into Saturday morning I was prompted to contact the organizer of the race to see if there was a rain plan…

Many runners who have done local events are familiar with the Star City Striders and the excellent work they do with our local races… these folks spend many earlly weekend mornings making sure every last detail is in place for serious runners and fun-runners alike… Barry Brewer is the man in charge and he is one of the nicest people you could meet… patient too.. I’ll get to that in just a minute… so the organizer sends me Barry’s response to my question and part of it went something like this… unless there are 50 mph winds and lightning we run… I got a little smile on my face and thought… tomorrow I’m likely to feel pretty tough by the end of the race that starts at 8:30am - I am actually looking forward to it!

Now… to why I think Barry has extreme patience - many many years ago when I emceed the first Jingle Bell Run in downtown Roanoke I wasn’t familiar with how a race works.. AT ALL.. so when the runners up front were getting antsy about the start and grumbling a little to get the show on the road… on my own I just started the race… 3-2-1 go… little did I realize all that goes into making sure those times or right - or the importance of knowing just how fast or slow your pace was… I didn’t even realize it until Barry politely yet firmly explained to me what I had done… I had nearly ruined a Christmas run for ohhhh about 800 people who had paid good money for a good race… he has to make sure someone starts the big clock at the same time the race starts… and since I had started the race without him it was a near disaster… What saved the day?  The guy in front of everyone had started his watch when I started the race - someone had the forethought to get his watch time as he crossed so they could accurately build on that for everyone else…

Surprisingly, the Jingle Bell Run has asked me back every year since and it is even a little running joke we have with each other..