Shannon Costello

I won!  Well, ok, I didn’t actually finish first, but the awards committee decided that I should receive the first place prize for my “extraordinary efforts in preparation”.  They “attached special importance to my vision for a world in which exercise is important” and said that I had “created a new climate in the Baltimore running scene.”  I hope the people who finished ahead of me didn’t mind too much.

Ok, now that I got that out of my system…

I took the Light Rail in.  Amusingly, I was more nervous about that than I would be in the D.C. metro system, but it worked out great- makes getting in and out so much easier.  I met a very nice woman on the way…she had three children but had also lost three children.  That sort of story makes me want to sob, and I wonder again, is it better to have loved and lost, or never to have loved at all?  Right now I think that loving is better than not loving, but losing hurts more than not losing…deep, huh?  But I’d rather be grieving for the children I never had than grieving for the ones I almost had and lost.

I ran into my former student intern (student teacher, for those of you not up on current educational terms), who was running her first half marathon with a fellow teacher.  In fact, I saw 4 people that I knew there, either running or cheering, and all of them are Howard County teachers.  Yeah!  One of them I hadn’t seen in awhile.  It was so nice to have her remember my name!

I didn’t think any deep thoughts during the race.  Stuff like, “Hey, that’s the only squished rat I’ve seen today!” and “Lavandería del Pueblo…I must be in the hispanic part of town” (but there were no asian people in front of the Chinese laundry….I guess mostly I thought about feeling just a little bit uncomfortable, a little too full from breakfast (It was a 9:45 start time…I felt I should have an actual meal before running since it was so late.)

The coolest visual was around Lake Montebello (mile 20 on the marathon I ran a few years ago- I don’t have pleasant memories of that spot)…I could see all around the lake, and the road was swarming with people running.  Around there my ability to do math fizzled….I was very surprised to see the 8 mile sign when I was looking for the 7 mile sign, but at 1 hour and 20 minutes 8 miles made sense.  (I think I finished at just under 2:20, slower than my last race, but I think this course is significantly hillier.)

The Light Rail ride back was interesting, even though I didn’t have anyone to talk to.  There were a lot of tired-looking young children, and the woman in the back was loudly demanding that her boyfriend stop touching her inappropriately.  The older woman in front of them was glaring at the man and grumpily explaining how he should behave in public.  I don’t think she knew either of them.  Between the two females I guess he settled down.  In contrast, there was another couple sitting a few seats ahead.  They were talking quietly and he was massaging her legs.  People are funny.