The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (breast cancer) is a big deal here in Saint Louis. It would be a big deal anywhere else too, because it is the biggest race in America. This was the thirteenth instance of this race and for many of its 64,000 participants it was another beautiful event. For me, it was my first Komen Race and I had a lovely time. I recommend it to you all. Normally, Anne does the Komen with her girlfriends, Pat and Joanie, but Pat was out-of-town and Joanie had to work, so I became the designated replacement girlfriend. In past years, I had swooped downtown to watch and photograph the event, but actually participating in the race made a difference.

There is a race in Komen, a chip timed race, but our Komen was hardly fast. It maybe the largest race in America, but it is far from the fastest. Charlie the Tortoise was a race participant, he even finished before Anne and I. Even though he was slow but steady, I think that he also cut the 5K course. In order to avoid the traffic, congestion and parking headaches that come from associating with 64 thousand of our closest friends, Anne and I bicycled there.

It was an 18 mile roundtrip. We searched for and eventually found the new downtown bicyclist’s commuting station. Unfortunately, it is a member’s only establishment, so we couldn’t park our bikes there. We eventually found a secure place and commenced our walk. Note, I said walk and not race. It sprinkled along the way, but that was just embraced and welcomed too. I must say that I was impressed by the event and look forward to doing it again next year. Maybe that time with the other gurls too?

After the race and on the way home, we stopped off at the Fountain on Locust. I read on its menu that the building that The Fountain is now located in was once a Stutz Bearcat car dealership. In honor of that memory, I had the Bearcat ice cream sundae. It was a lot of sundae and I waddled home afterwards.