Mob Mile 2026

ERA of… WTF… Joy and Resistance

Here we go again! Mob Mile.

Last year it stormed and everything was wet. This year, no rain — just slightly humid. 7 p.m. is when everything goes down. I'm still in Heat 1. I think I could go for two. I like to be first and then done.

Mob Mile is great because I get to see all my favorites in the running community. My running community. Some of the people from Heartbreakers, Pioneers, Trailblazers, LiveFitArmy, BMR. BGR is sometimes touch and go with who shows up. Coach gave us — the community running crews — 10 free bibs. I don't think all the ladies took advantage of that, even though I advertised it. I know, getting to Cambridge by 7 p.m. on a Thursday night is a bit challenging for many people.

As I looked at the runners, I found myself wondering how many of them have kids — young kids. How many have to be at work in the morning. Just eyeballing it, a lot of the runners looked young, under 30. I know some of the men who ran have kids — so who was taking care of them while their dads raced? I'm always thinking about family dynamics.

I was too busy running my mouth and chatting that I almost missed my start time. My goal was to run and run strong. I found myself pacing the other people in my heat, and I was happy with that role. I wanted to engage and make sure everyone had fun. I suppressed myself and ran a mile in 9:09 — which is pretty damn good. Now, could I hold that pace for a 5K, 10K, or half marathon? Not without a lot of training. But it was a good time and a good race.