Outgames reflections: Wendy Rose
Call of nature! So after months and months of training, after many battles with management to get time off work, after much support and organization by some fellow Frontrunners to get me there, where was I when the 10 km road race started? Well, I was in the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes before the race was to begin, I decide that I had better empty my bladder because I had been keeping myself very well hydrated, only to find myself at the end of a very long queue. There were only two stalls for the female runners. I did check out the guys' line up, but it looked equally as long. So there I was in the bathroom when I heard the gun go off, so I came out running full tilt across the park to get to the start line, but I was greeted with the sight of no runners. I continued running at full tilt, all the while thinking "wait for me". At about half a kilometre, I realized that my heart was pounding and that I needed to slow down to my normal running pace if I was ever going to finish this 10 km race.
As I got into my normal rhythm of running, I managed to catch up to several runners. I found that the run was going by very easily, that the spectators and volunteers clapping and wishing you well as you went by helped to keep me feeling very positive. And then to have your team mates calling your name as you got close to the finish line was an absolute emotional high!
So, after this experience, I have made a mental note to check out the bathroom facilities half an hour before the start of the next 10 km road race at the 2nd world Outgames in Copenhagen in 2009.
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