International Breakfast Run 10/24/04

Day 10

The day before the marathon, Steve and I suspended several of our pre-race rules. Instead of leisurely eating breakfast, drinking plenty of fluids while reading in the hotel and resting our legs, we gobbled a bowl of ‘porridge’ (oatmeal to us…) and wandered out to the cab loading area. Destination? The International Breakfast Run and T-shirt Swap! Several fellow runners from the Joints in Motion group were gathered so we split up into 2 cabs and made our way over to Fairview Park. Margo from Ohio shared our cab and three of us were entertained by our gregarious Irish cabbie. He had much to tell us about the local political scene in Dublin as well as the housing changes occurring on the outskirts of the downtown area.

Upon our arrival, I gave Margo my extra t-shirt to swap as I had brought along 2 for sharing purposes. There was a solid crowd of runners assembled to run the International race. Always weather-aware, I wondered what tomorrow would bring. The tights I wore today were clearly too warm so I began to re-think my race-day clothing choices. I spotted Rob McNair (my electrician from home) near the start line and quickly convinced him of the necessity to snap a photo with me. He does not have an affinity for cameras but was gracious to allow the shot nonetheless.

Once the run began, we were surrounded by the wonder of the world of foreign languages! Citizens from France, Rotterdam, Canada and more joyfully took off for parts unknown. The topic of conversation soon turned to the actual length of this race. Was it a 5K or a 3K? The Dublin marathon website had conflicting reports. I had no watch, I saw no mile markers and frankly my legs were not cooperating anyway so I just RAN. You know what? It was fun! I received a good dose of what I had to look forward to tomorrow. People of all nationalities wearing their country’s colors, speaking in their native tongue, joyfully using their God given ability to run just like me.

After the run, we all received our complimentary International Breakfast Run t-shirt and headed into the Westwood Hall. It was a very fancy sports club with an awesome Olympic sized pool, climbing walls, virtual bowling, pool tables and a sports bar with 20 TV’s (Steve counted!%2