Mostly, I looked forward to the anonymity of a night run as we race-day registered for the Fox Cities Nitelite Run Friday.
I pictured myself cruising quietly along, obscured by darkness and neon streaks of passing glow sticks, lost in my own end-of-the-week thoughts.
“Hey, Laura! Is that you??”
Startled, I looked up and saw a group of Appleton North friends.
“Oh, hey!”
As the race started, I found my pace and settled in.
“Laura!”
A friend from my morning boot camp class waved from the sidewalk.
“Hi there!” I huffed as I headed up a hill.
I’m no celebrity, but the NiteLite run traced the same route I run nearly every morning. I found myself pageant waving as I chugged along, greeting friends and neighbors and second guessing my outfit choice.
My face shined a sherberty shade of orange and pink owing both to the glow sticks around my neck and my own sweaty flush. My circa 1990 yoga pants required a good yank up every 100 yards or so, and I paused at one point to tie my neon green sweat shirt around my waist.
A mom pushing a stroller full of children zipped past.
I hate when that happens.
Still, I had a great time with plenty of music to pump (clap!) me up, and lots of inspiration, too. I saw a man lift his disabled running partner from his wheelchair, grab his hand and, together, the two men made their way 100 yards down the chute to the finish line.
Tiny children sat on curbs cheering wildly, and a man in a neon thong (yikes) won the whole thing.
I didn’t glow, I sweated. Profusely.
But I thoroughly enjoyed my first nighttime fun run.
Hope y’all did too.
