Chicago Women's 5k

I've got several posts either started, or hanging out in my mind grapes, but actually writing them just hasn't happened.  Summer is usually my not-so-busy time at work, but that seems to not be the case this year.  Mainly, I've been stuck cleaning up after the gross incompetence of other people who probably make much more money than me.  But then I guess everyone encounters that at work at some point or another, right?

The starting line, near Grant Park

Anyway, as per the title of this post, I ran another 5k!  I took part in the first-ever Chicago Women's Half Marathon and 5k.  

A fellow runner by the lake
(stopping to take a better picture would've slowed me down even more, and my time needed all the help it could get)

This past Sunday, about 900 other ladies and I ran along Chicago's beautiful lakefront, just a day after the anniversary of Title IX, in a race benefiting Go Red for Women.  Maybe it's because of the 4 years I spent (and mostly loved) at an all-girls high school, but there's something really awesome about a gathering of just women.  The race emcees talked about all of the opportunities available to women now, because of Title IX, that weren't available just a generation or two ago.  For example, before Title IX, there probably wouldn't be an all-female run like this.  This reminded me of how my mom has always said how sad it was that she wasn't allowed to play baseball or softball in school, even though she loved the sport so much.  It's hard for me to imagine that, but it wasn't that long ago.