Day of Protest: Celebrating the Reggie

Era of WTF

Today, April 5th is a national day of protest against all the Oppressive policies and actions of the Trump administration. I’m not going to any of it. Today is the 4 mile run, 2 mile walk to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Reggie Lewis Center, also known as the Reggie. I love the Reggie. It is in the heart of the Black Community in Roxbury, it is the geographical center of Boston, and it not only serves the city and the state but it is also a black for health and wellness in the Black and Brown Communities.

If we are talking about taking action and supporting community members, well this is it. I could not think of a better way to protest than to celebrate the black joy of the Reggie and all that came out to run/walk and support this organization that serves so many.

This race was free. How many free races are there. Plus it was in Franklin Park, a space that many black and brown folks use to walk, run, gather, and have community. Place matters. I found out on the 10th anniversary of the Reggie only 10 people showed up to run and celebrate. Today 190 people signed up for this community run.

It was cold standing around but good running weather. I saw members of the BIPOC running community and folks that know me from Pacing with Heartbreak at the Reggie. A couple of my BGR ladies showed up.

This was the space and place that I wanted and needed to be in.

After some words, a photo opt, and a great pre workout stretch, we ran.

My new goal: Interval running. I made sure to have my timer on. 3 minutes of running 1:30 minutes of walking. I had forgotten how hilly Franklin Park is. We were running two loops around the park. I’m not a ran of loops but I was in it. This was a challenge. I normally run by myself. This was running with people, which is different. Everyone has the same goal and is on the same route.And I couldn’t be too lacked.

After the first loop, I was tired. The two mile loop went quickly. When I passed the timer, I saw 22 minutes had passed. No bad I thought. I need to keep going.

In the end I ran 4.09 miles at a 11:23 mile pace. My final time was 46:36. Normally I have run around a 12 minutes plus mile a minute. I wondered if I could keep this pace for 9 more miles. I have two weeks to train before I find out.

Overall it was a good day to run, be in joy , community, and resist.