This morning my husband and I went to watch a road race in the village near our farm. The race was called the "Covered Bridge 10k" because, obviously, the route takes the runners near or through a covered bridge. In this case the covered bridge was the halfway point: the race started at one end of Main Street, headed out along Route 10, then through the covered bridge and back to town via the Back River Road, ending in front of the courthouse. I would like to say that the whole town turned out to watch, but that wouldn't be accurate. I would say that maybe 1/20th of the town was there, runners included. But it was a happy crowd. Lots of the runners were parents, so their kids went wild as they crossed the finish. Some of the runners were kids themselves - either running with a parent or by themselves - their parents and siblings cheering them along. There was, of course, a bake sale. There were policemen to keep the traffic at bay. There was an announcer in the bandstand at the center of Courthouse Square announcing the splits times of the front runners. We were particularly proud fans, since the boy who won (who is a nationally ranked athlete) is the son of very old friends; he was born the same week as our own boy and even now 22 years later, the two finish each others' sentences. The winner's mother also ran the race and did her personal best time. I could post a picture of her coming across the finish, but even though she looked great, she wouldn't thank me for that!
This morning my husband and I went to watch a road race in the village near our farm. The race was called the "Covered Bridge 10k" because, obviously, the route takes the runners near or through a covered bridge. In this case the covered bridge was the halfway point: the race started at one end of Main Street, headed out along Route 10, then through the covered bridge and back to town via the Back River Road, ending in front of the courthouse. I would like to say that the whole town turned out to watch, but that wouldn't be accurate. I would say that maybe 1/20th of the town was there, runners included. But it was a happy crowd. Lots of the runners were parents, so their kids went wild as they crossed the finish. Some of the runners were kids themselves - either running with a parent or by themselves - their parents and siblings cheering them along. There was, of course, a bake sale. There were policemen to keep the traffic at bay. There was an announcer in the bandstand at the center of Courthouse Square announcing the splits times of the front runners. We were particularly proud fans, since the boy who won (who is a nationally ranked athlete) is the son of very old friends; he was born the same week as our own boy and even now 22 years later, the two finish each others' sentences. The winner's mother also ran the race and did her personal best time. I could post a picture of her coming across the finish, but even though she looked great, she wouldn't thank me for that!
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