A Day at the Races

Last week I blogged on the subject of “Walkability”; and how it was becoming a factor in the home selection process. This week lets speed things up a bit. My brother Frank is a runner, and I mean a RUNNER. He has run marathons in all 50 states. He and his wife Diane were vacationing in Maine and called me to let me know they would be running in this year’s Yankee Homecoming 10k and 5k races respectively and how we should get together, as they live in sunny Florida and our opportunity for visits is limited. Anyway, there must be some sort of society that lets these people know where and when the races are, probably something akin to those who are attentive to when the swallows return to Capistrano or the Buzzards to Finley Ohio but on a larger scale. However, by Facebook Friends or "Running for Pain and Pleasure" magazine they found themselves in Newburyport on one of the finest weather days these traditional races have ever had. I.’m sorry (I think) to say, I have never raced. But wanting to support them and being mildly interested in what this was all about, I went as a spectator and cheering section.

WOW!  What a thing this is. Upon arriving at the High School Start Finish location, I was truly amazed at the amount of people and the obvious camaraderie. I don’t know how many were there, but they were thousands. When the 5k race began, it was a human metaphor for those glorious days when buffalo in numbers roamed the plains and as sure as the blast of the air horn start would have stampeded the herd, so did it affect this mass of humanity in bond with a common and individual goal.

The finish was just as exciting as the start. Although the runners were strung out by now, it was something to witness the character of this group, now more as individuals than a collective mass. There was something wonderful about each person that magnified a spirit that would not be evident in an otherwise encounter. They were men and women of differing ages: from young children to senior seniors within a complex of racial and physical distinctions. As they approached the finish, this collage of humankind expressed pain, pride, fortitude, resolve, joy, disappointment, accomplishment and any mixture thereof, but with one common bond known only to each every other alone.

Truly a rewarding experience as a spectator and beyond my imagination for that of a participant. No matter the distance “NIKE!!”

And now we break to our commercial.

Yankee Homecoming with it various entertainments and events is just one more in a myriad of reasons that people love this area. So if you’re looking for a place to call home, let me help you find it. If for any reason you find it necessary to leave (You’ll still have your memories), I would be most pleased to assist you in the sale of your home.