Boston 10k for women- First club Run

Era of WTF…………………….joy, and resistance

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Boston 10K for Women. In 2013, this was my first official race. This was the race that started me on this journey of mine.

Looking back, I really had no clue what was going on. I remember being on the Boston Common and thinking about how white this race was. It was cool to see so many women running, but the diversity of women was absent from the space. I don't think I talked to many people — I was mostly observing, taking in this new space.

Fast forward to now: I've run at least 10 Boston 10Ks for Women, I'm an ambassador, and BGR Boston is one of the charity teams — we have a tent at the race. Oh, how far things have come. Looking forward to running this race, and I've signed up to be a part of three more training sessions leading up to it.

For the first race, we started at 9 a.m. They'll all start at 9 a.m. The goal was to run for 30 minutes, which took us around 2.5–3 miles. By 9 a.m. when we ran, it was hot. Hot to me. The route was an easy one — up Boylston Street, turn on Tremont, turn on Commonwealth Mall, then back to Boylston. We ran along the outside of the Common and Public Garden.

I stayed in the middle of the pack. I wanted to make sure we didn't lose anybody. To be honest, I was happy for the breaks and for the chance to wait for everyone. Thirty minutes straight had me tired — I think part of it was the heat. Normally I run 20–25 minutes on the elliptical, and this showed me I need to do more running outside and put more miles on my feet.

It was a fun and good group. I'm glad I could kick it off.