Running Through The Vehicle City

Here's a bit of irony for you: on Saturday was the annual Crim Festival of Races came to Flint, a city which boasts the name "Vehicle City," as if to suggest it is the younger, more scrappy brother of Detroit, the Motor City. Just last weekend was a huge car show known as Back to the Bricks, and this week, running aficionados found themselves flocking to the brick streets downtown. Interesting that a city based around driving as a major form of transportation also supports the opposite: the use of no vehicle at all!

My friend Tobi was in town, so we went into the city in the morning on Saturday. Of course, neither of us run, so we stood by the buildings and watched as the runners took their marks, and eventually returned as sweaty, smelly, and hunger-driven. Thousands of people showed up to run, and thousands more showed up to watch. I had never been to the Crim before, and I had assumed that several people showed up, but I never would have guessed it would be on such a large scale. The race featured everything from a Teddy Bear Trot for the little tykes out there, to a 10 mile race.

In the end, a Kenyan man named Julius Kogo won the 10 mile race for the second year in a row, this year completing the race in 47:15. Personally, I'm not sure how that's even possible, but kudos to the people who are so well-conditioned who can do that! (Nerd alert: Kenyans are sometimes stereotyped as being excellent runners, and as it turns out, they actually have a high proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers, which may contribute to their ability to run long distances more efficiently...so, they're genetically predisposed to being great runners! Additionally, they train using low mileage and high intensity.)

While I don't dream of being a long distance runner, I may up the ante on the treadmill this week. Maybe someday, I'll participate in the Crim instead of watching...maybe.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

For the last couple of days, people of all ages and all walks of life poured into downtown Flint to see some pretty sweet rides. Old cars, new cars, red cars, blue cars. A little bit of everything.

Generally, I know next to nothing about cars. All I want to know is that when I put the key in my car and give it a turn, the engine fires up. I'm convinced, however, that my boyfriend knows everything there is to know about cars...plus some. He can identify cars instantaneously, and I'm usually surprised if he doesn't know the car's stats. Needless to say the Back to the Bricks Cruise Weekend is like a weekend of heaven for him. We walked around for a while Friday night, and he pointed out all the impressive cars (in my world, if it looks cool, it's impressive...that's not always true in the world of car people, apparently).

On Saturday, my younger sister and I headed back downtown to pass out some awesome keychains and bracelets for Fossil Cars. Of course, getting there was an adventure in and of itself. I'm not great with directions... and by that, I mean I'm absolutely awful at navigating anywhere. My ability to get lost in my own hometown is almost legendary. Everyone knows it.

Anyway, as we passed out the keychains and bracelets, we went from practically overheating in the hot sun to running through a torrential downpour in a matter of moments. As we ducked for cover in a doorway, a little boy and his dad were heading to the same area, only the kid was crying...hard. He had lost a flipflop while running through the rain and was quite upset about losing it.  We gave him a bracelet and a keychain and he started to calm down, but there was just no forgetting that flipflop.

We were completely drenched by the time we reached the pavilion area, and watched as the rain chased the crowd out of town. When talk of hail began, most of the cars were gone in a flash. It's amazing how fast the weather can change, huh? Eh, it was fun while it lasted, and we will definitely be back next year!