It was 8am and my friend Emma’s pre-scheduled ride was a few minutes late. She had enough time to get to the race. The heavy downpour overnight had her worried but the weather gods had since calmed down, and a light morning drizzle was no excuse for event cancelletion. She was looking foward to this run, her first in the Tennessee bible belt.
Emma learned early on as a young trained dancer that running was her true passion, because unlike dancing, it was never about chasing glory. That’s also why she enjoyed long distance runs and marathons. Less pressure, more fun. She reminded herself to endure the first 3 miles to let her mind settle and her legs to warm up, then wait for her runners-high to kick in before switching to cruise-mode.
So here she was, on a rainy Sunday morning, wearing bright green tights and a flowery holiday sweater, far away from her New York Queens life, on her way to the Santa’s Hustle 10K race in Nashville, Tennessee.
Emma was in town to spend some family time with…
