1996
In 1996, entering junior high school as a seventh grader we were encouraged to get involved with extracurriculars to be well rounded: arts, academics, and sports. Being a high energy child it was demanded I play sports. That fall I had a choice of soccer, field hockey or cross country as a female. I never learned how to played soccer. Field hockey players had to wear skirts. I was told some distant relative ran cross country with success so my energetic adolescent self took up running.
Sorta. Our competition distance was 1.5 miles. I had no head for distance and the loops around the school campus seemed impossible. I enjoyed practicing speed drills with walking recovery but struggled to master the arts of pacing and patience. Often I would start my races at a quick pace then get tired, stop, turn around and walk with my friend until I saw my coach again.
That was until The Day. I have no idea why this day was special. What motivated me? Was it just an inkling? Was my walking friend not at the race? Did something get me fired up? That detail has slipped my memory but something was different on this crisp autumn day. I ran the whole course. And in doing so I placed as a scoring runner for my team. More so, at this age level we ran coed. I beat boys. Boys on the other team, boys on my team. I was faster than the boys.
This motivated me. Being a product of the 80s this was glass shattering. I was born in a different time. Gendered social norms were common. I did not have a GameBoy like my brothers did at Christmas (there was no GameGirl). I learned to ski in my 20s while my brothers learned in grade school because I was not a Boy Scout. Skirts and jumpers were uniform.
Running was my break from all of that. The clock couldn’t lie. I became a runner. The Fall of 1996 was the year I found something I was good at and it empowered me for years to come. The 5k, double my preadolescent 1.5 miles, eventually became my bread & butter .
Preceding my matriculation to junior high school, during the summer of 1996, at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the 5000 (5k) distance race was debuted for women. Breaking a long tradition of men and women competing at different distances or not including “damaging for ladies” long distance events. I cannot remember watching the Olympics or this historic race or having any knowledge of gender politics around it. I wonder if I absorbed a message of potential that summer that stayed silent in the folds of my developing brain until that race day. Regardless, I know that I have those who came before me to thank for clearing the path.