Here's mine:
I don't think I had ever run that fast before in my life. It was Christmastime and all the runners were given jingle bells. At the time, I was still a beginner and I was used to stopping frequently throughout my runs. So I'm jogging, lots of people passing me, I'm also passing others. It's pretty cool. Then a kid passes me. Then another. And some more.
That's cool too, I expected that. There are bound to be elementary school children faster than I am. What I didn't anticipate was how many would keep pace with me.
I was tired and wanted to stop running. Then I looked down to find myself adrift in a sea of babies. I remember kids falling during laps in my formative years. Stampedes! Pile-ups! Only disaster could follow my stopping. They'd trample me, they'd trip, and we'd all fall down. Other races would have to avoid a tumbleweed made of a 4th grade classroom and what they assumed was the teacher, all going jingle-jingle-jingle. I dare not trust the coordination of myself and these cookie-fueled chaos factories. I had to keep running!
Anyway, eventually they split away from me and the rest of the race is a blurry lung-burn-y memory. I got a cookie and a finisher though.
So, what's your 1st race story?
I used to run at school where track was compulsory, and I've been a causal runner for fitness most of my life but never entered any races. About 15 years ago a work colleague who was trying to lose weight asked my if I'd like to sign up for a 5Km. I agreed, and the day arrived. I beat him easily. Next was a 10Km - again I won. A half marathon came next and I still triumphed, but only just. Finally we decided to run a marathon and he walked all over me. I never realized how much training you need to put in to be able to run 42.2 Km. Anyway since then I've been hooked. Coming up on my 10th marathon this year - MCM in Washington DC and hoping to qualify for Boston.
I'm not very coordinated and my eyesight sucks so ball sports are out. Running is something that almost anyone can do - no fancy equipment or playing fields required - and the feeling at the end of a race, when you've trained hard and you cross the finish line, exhausted but still strong is like nothing else on earth.