National Dialogue on Race

Slight amendment here: I meant “National Dialogue on a Race”—the human race—or rather, a race involving humans. I’ll leave the heavy stuff for Barack Obama.

Today marked the four-point-something-mile race by the pond we call a lake just north of town. Beni’s been diligently training for the race with a running group for weeks now; I’ve been there for moral support and to serve as a training partner on occasion. Running together on race day, we weathered high winds and occasional sprinkles to finish at a pace that was faster than Beni had been registering throughout her training sessions.

I wasn’t sure if my post-race chest aches were from my lungs having to work harder than usual or from my heart bursting forth with pride for Beni—you must know that my wife is someone whose only other race experience was from when she was in elementary school, and who on the first day of her training likened running to death.