The biggest race in town starts at 7 a.m. on April Fool’s Day. Named one of the best races in the country by USA Today, the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10-K features more than 40,000 people as well as all manner of partiers and well-wishers along the way. For information on the race, set for Saturday, April 1, visit sportsbackers.org.
And for those of you race humbuggers who are fed up by the crowds, detoured from your destinations and in general driven crazy by the annual event, here are some words of advice from a staffer and former participant:
Five Steps on the Road to Optimism
1. Relax about your car and the street closures. Walk somewhere. Ride your bike. Enjoy a relatively car-free city for the morning. Maybe you aren’t up for a 6-mile run, but how about a mile walk to breakfast?
2. Stand on the race route and cheer. Bring a chair and beverage-filled thermos and think about how glad you are to not be running.
3. Make a funny sign. You don’t have to know anyone running. There’s nothing better than rounding mile No. 5 and seeing an encouraging or hilarious poster. Running is fairly boring, but running the Monument Avenue 10K is the least boring run there is because of the cheerleaders en route.
4. Again, relax about your car. It’s one morning of the year.
5. More cowbell.