What a May Day!

I have been taking it easy; sort of nursing the leg along and giving it a good break, so hopefully I will feel a little better as we come into race week. I was however complete amazed at the wonderful weekend that I had.

On May 1, 2010, I was filled with inspiration. There were so many events going on I could hardly keep myself together.

On Saturday, May 1 was the second annual Illinois Marathon. Katie, the kids, and I headed into Champaign to sit on a corner near mile 17 of the marathon and root on a few of the runners. And I have got to tell you it was such a great experience. When we got there at 9:30am many of the faster runners had already passed, but there were still hundreds more to see. We began cheering and encouraging the runners to "keep it up" or "you are doing great". I had hoped to see a Team_Cubicle shirt, but apparently the shirts did not arrive in time for the race. Dan and his team did have a great race, and I am sure that I unknowingly cheered one of them on their way. Katie and I did see a couple of people that we knew. Katie's college friend, Courtney, was running the full marathon with her sister, and I saw a high school football coach, Coach Willy, running in a relay with his family. Katie and I took the kids for little runs up and down the sidewalk. the kids would cheer for a particular runner and every so often one of them would smile or wave back. I think the kids really got a kick out of it. The whole time I was watching, I began thinking to myself that I could run a marathon. I know it seems ridiculous, since I am challenge by a relatively short 10k, but when you are there and watching the event, you really get swept up into it. Katie did bring me back down to reality and on the way home we agreed to run as part of a relay team in next year's Illinois marathon. So if anyone is looking to run a few miles with Team Fulton, please let us know.

When we finally got home, I raced to the computer to check how Fatty was doing in his first Ironman triathlon. I have to compliment Ironman for their website; if you have any information on an individual in one of their races, you can easily check on that racer's progress. Immediately, I noticed Fatty had blown away his swim goal of 2 hours, and he was really moving fast on the bike portion of the race. I checked on his progress periodically and I watched a few of the finishers cross the line on the live video feed, and I must tell you again, these athletes are soooo inspiring. It's almost enough to make me learn how to swim.

I have not checked on his progress but my hero, Jeff, and his wife were supposed to participate in a charity walk to benefit pancreatic cancer. Knowing them they probably ran the darn thing.

When I sit back and think about all of this, I can't help but feel like the paradigm is shifting. People are really starting to care about their health and well-being. People are getting out and moving. Many of them are doing it in combination with charity fundraising. Hell, ABC is putting advertising dollars at risk to put Jamie Oliver on the TV to say "Stop eating that crap!" People are caring about themselves and others. In a world filled with so much pessimism and pain, all of this work is a real antidote, and just another reason for me to be so inspired.

May Day is often associated strongly as a socialist celebration; a call for unity amongst the workers of the world. On this May Day 2010, I believe that it was a call for the people of the world to unite for a healthier, happier world.