Running for Congress

I don't mean campaigning, I mean actual running. Every year since 1981 a 3 mile run has been held in Washington DC. The race is the ACLI Capital Challenge and is an invite race for people representing the three branches of the federal government. The insurance companies cover all the expenses of putting on the race, so all entrance fees go to charity. 

 

I'm a huge fan of puns, so the team names listed in the awards and overall results have me chuckling to myself. I'm also impressed with some of the times. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is almost 80 years old, ran the race in 33 minutes. That's a good pace for anyone, especially at his age. Sen. Lugar, above, finished a bit faster than 45 minutes. He has said he used to try to win, but now just wanted to finish his last race before leaving the Senate. They have an archive of pictures from previous races. They include everyone from Chief Justice John Roberts to Senator Pell.

Late Bloomers

The woman wearing #9 in that picture is Kathy Martin, she is running with people less than half her age, but she's the one setting American and world records. They are age group records and she has broken dozens of them.

The linked NY Times article is mostly about Martin, but also mentions other master runners. One of the things linking many of them is that they didn't start running as kids and continue throughout their entire lives. Some of them didn't run at all until they were adults. Some ran as kids, but were derailed by life, or the lack of Title IX.

I remind myself that there are athletes like this repeatedly. It helps when I feel that I started too late, or that I've already missed my prime. That may be true, but that doesn't mean that I can't set some records.