Last week happened to be a holiday weekend. I was in Detroit for a few days visiting family. I made a run to Whole Foods and decided to pop into the Shinola store in Midtown. Next door happens to be, Run Detroit. The finest store for those endurance athletes that happen to live in the Motor City / Motown. Of course, I had to take a peak.
I haven’t had a race on schedule since the Brooklyn Half Marathon a week ago and have been itching to get back to it. I got into the store and realized they were packing away bibs for tomorrow’s big 5k on the Gran Prix race track on Belle Isle. Here’s the funny part of the story.
I came to Detroit to see family so I didn’t pack race gear. The girl at the store responded, “You’re always supposed to pack race gear”. Note to self…always pack race gear. Of course, I have like 18 pair of sneakers, 50 shirts and 30 shorts. Not really. But I have a lot of stuff. I was in no mood to buy more clothing and shoes. Enter Walmart. So for under 20 bucks, I purchased a t-shirt, shorts and a pair of running sneakers. Do not ask me what the brand was. I didn’t care.
We arrived on Belle Isle about 10 minutes before the race was beginning. No need to fear. It’s their first race on the Gran Prix race course and they were certain to have a late start. It did. Lucky for me I was in it for the experience and fun. It was scolding hot and humid out. I trotted around the course and thought about the Indy Cars that will be gracing the course in just a week. It was amazing. I can’t wait to do it again next year!
