8. Running Interference

Even worse was my costume.

We had agreed to be unsung superheroes, the unpopular ones. The biggest challenge of course, wasn’t to be recognized, but to find the outfit. I spent hours putting together my Ant Man helmet, but the rest was my thrifty use of colorful red sweats and rubber kitchen gloves. Wendy some how scored a very impressive Scarlet Witch costume that got all the cat calls. Unfair. I don’t think anyone knew who she was suppose to be. And Kenny was constantly mistaken for an odd looking Jason Voorhees, from Friday the 13th, when we was Casey Jones, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Come on. Jason never chased anyone down with a hockey stick and looked like he attended some 80′s metal concert. Guess it serves him right. Casey Jones had no super powers. And we were assuming super heroes from the Marvel and DC universe.

In any case, running in costume was far worse than I imagined. Sweat was beading around my balls and streaming down my face. I wasn’t even running that fast.

The sun was reflecting off all the sky scrapers and their fancy windows. Warming the streets to its usual stink. The city hasn’t seen rain in weeks. The smell of grime and baked urine polluted the air. Worse of all, we hadn’t hit the bad part.

One mile down.

I was parched. I had two big sweat stains under my arm pits.

“Get some H2O rocket man,” I heard people yell.

“Ant Man,” I pointed to my helmet like it would be obvious.

“Rock-Et-Man Rock-Et-Man”, the group started to chant. I’d imagine they were some fraternity, already drunk.

“Here,” a girl called out.

She was cute, no, hot, pretty damn hot. She wore these short shorts, turquoise and this white tank top with some colorful head bands and wrist bands. Your usual 80′s outfit. Though she’s look hot in any outfit, with the perfect tight body and these dark alluring eyes and lips that cute’n up that seductive look. So as spellbound as I was, all I could do was take the cup the girl ran out to me to give me.

“Refuel rocket man,” she shouted hands on her knees. “Woohoo!”

I got my wish. It was beer. But when you were expecting something like water, beer kinda shocks the system. I almost spit it out, because I thought they gave me something putrid as a joke. No joke. That was cool of them. It was cold and refreshing like the beer commercials. I chugged it, tossed the paper cup, and put my arms out like superman.

“Rocket Man!” The roars pushed me ahead.

5. Running Interference

Anyways, the run started off as usual. The huge crowd pushes forward. Some started running, but then stopped to walk as people bottlenecked the start line. Weird if you think about it. All of the serious and fast runners lead this pack. Guess there are always those people who don’t know their level, let alone care, especially in this race. We knew our spot. Toward the back of those people in expensive shoes sporting either the official race shirt or some other fancy athletic shirt with their expensive running shoes. There were even some wearing hydration belts. Talk about serious. Our section were all the fun runners where. We didn’t care too much about getting a decent time, and winning, that never crossed our minds. We were people running to get some exercise in to watch all the crazy outfits and themes coming in to Golden Gate Park, where the race eventually ended. You could see some already. Runners dressed up in suits, some dressed up in old halloween outfits, and of course, some didn’t even dress up with any form of clothing. You want to make sure you don’t run behind those people. Trust me, they are never the ones you want to see naked. Thankfully, those types weren’t in the running section. And actually, all the more elaborate costumes and themes are behind us. Not quite at the starting line up. They’re usually not registered. They were just there to flaunt their costumes or group idea. Pretty clever, for the most part, and some, like the boom box guy, left you bewildered yet fascinated. But all in all, it was fun to see and we could wait to get this run started so we could see it all.

“Finally,” Wendy groaned. “We’re movin!”

Our section moved past the start line. And like a flock of birds we all spread out and started into a jog. Everyone was still about arms distance from one another. We stuck together and spent our time avoiding other runners. There are other small groups like us and they were tricky to navigate around. Usually they were talking and laughing among themselves. Some even started to break into their stash of alcohol. Okay, maybe not this early in the race, but later when there were no cops around.

Wendy and Kenny were glued at the hip. Neither one let themselves move ahead or slip past one another. They kept talking and talking. I got the feeling that Wendy couldn’t wait to get this run started so she could ditch me and start talking to Kenny one on one. Odd place to do it. There were so many people around. And why the hell can’t they just do what normal people do, and go on a date. Have dinner or watch a movie. These slow romantic friendly starts are totally lame. Not to mention, extremely lame for the friend that has to witness this.

At that point, I dropped back and decided to keep it at a very light jog. Take in the moment.