This is what happens to you when you are the last person to finish the Cowtown 5k:
1. You get to be the Grand Marshall of a parade!
I was followed for two hours within spitting distance and traveling at ONE MILE PER HOUR by the official Cowtown 5k tail car, which was followed by a FWPD squad car, which was followed by a truck full of guys who were picking up the traffic cones, which was followed by another squad car, which was followed by two other trucks doing who knows what.
2. You get a personal concert!
When I was on the last leg of the race, a woman ran up to the fence and started playing “Chariots of Fire” on bagpipes. She played it four times and then played “Appalachian Spring.” See video.
3. You get to be honked at and cheered for by the drivers in the traffic on University Blvd!
My brother pointed out that those may have been irritated honks because of the slow down, but as we neared my finish time of 2:45:27, listen, I was taking what I could get.
4. You get to have a dedicated team!
Thank you to my Aunt Lisa and my mother for walking the entire 5k with me and to my brother and sister-in-law for finishing their own 10k and then jogging over to walk the last mile and a half of the 5k with me.
5. You get to have a solo return to the finish line!
There were a handful of people left to cheer me in, a full hour after the last runner, and the announcer yelled into his microphone the second he saw me turn the corner, “We’re not going anywhere! We’re not moving! We’re here for you, you sexy lady!” He said this as I limped along with a walker. 🙂
6. You get to say you did it!
One man’s 5k is another man’s marathon.
And one man’s 5,102nd place is another man’s First.