If the fearless weather forecasters are to be believed, with rain and temperatures in the low to mid sixties it shall prove difficult - if not impossible - for one of my favorite December events to live up to its name this morning. After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Big Chill 5K returns to Rutgers University. The bear is back!
I have run in the Big Chill multiple times over the past dozen-plus years. It holds a special place in my heart for two reasons. First, its mission is to do good, providing assistance to those in need at Christmas. This year, in an acknowledgement of COVID's continuing presence in all our lives, toys shall not be collected from all participants. Instead, our registration fees shall be used to purchase clothes and toys and other items for children in need as well as some other excellent causes.
The other reason the Big Chill maintains its place on the ever-shrinking list of races I run is that it is the first race in which I ever participated. Way back when in 2008, Wilma talked me into running it with her. I am sure she still laughs at the memory of me, not only not wearing a running watch but not knowing such an instrument existed, having come close to experiencing death climbing up George Street asking how close we were to the finish only to have her tell me we had not yet passed the 1 mile mark. At least, back then, when I signed up for a race, I ran its entire length so on that long-ago December Saturday morning, I completed all 3.1 miles...and not simply 35.5% of the race as I would in the 2021 New York City Marathon.
For the first time this morning, two bad asses are chilling for the first time. Gidg and Brooke are running in their first-ever Big Chill. It shall be an outstanding morning, irrespective of the weather forecast, which appears to have been written by Greg Lake.
"I Believe in Father Christmas"
-Greg Lake
-AK
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