Run du Nain Rouge 2013

Last Sunday I ran the Nain Rouge. That means Red Dwarf in French. Apparently back three hundred years ago there was a Nain Rouge that terrified the French settlement in Detroit and every Vernal Equinox the good people of the city gather together to banish him. This is a tradition that has been recently revived. There is a parade commemorating it in downtown Detroit near Cass Ave to the Masonic Temple, but first was the 5K Race Run du Nain Rouge.

In its inaugural event there were close to four hundred runners, most of whom were dressed up in red. A lot of them were also wearing the race day t-shirts, designed by Pure Detroit, were quality. In lieu of a picture, just imagine the insignia at the top of this page on a dark grey short sleeve shirt. The other people looked like the picture below. Yes, even the guy without the shirt dressed... like something. I don't know why he went nips out when it was hovering around freezing but God bless. I wish he were wearing red though. (And by the way I beat him.)

The race started from the Cass Coridor, then went south on Cass Avenue, around Cass Park and back. Along the way there was a Nain in a few buildings jeering the runners by way of microphone. It was a nice touch. I would've liked it if the pace car had a Nain on it. Anyway the wind was blowing pretty hard, the air was more than crisp... it was more smacking. The wind smacked me a few times. There were a few guys ahead of me that I slowly passed, Shirtless Guy being one of them, but there were three guys that were ahead of me that sort of always kept getting further and further away. My theory is that they were part of the running store there and they are very good runners. Obviously.

I finished the race at 18:30, which is around 15 seconds slower than my PR, but I also think the course was short. The good news is that I came in third overall. That never happened in DC so I was very happy about that. I got to choose a shot glass as a result. AND the best part was that, going along with the red theme, there were red velvet cupcakes and pomegranate at the finish line. A trip to Slows to Go was a delicious way to finish the experience. There's me below running in my red, pixelated best. 

Welcome to 2013

Happy 2013 everyone. I hadn't run in the three days leading to the New Year. You may be able to decipher that by the beard on my face resembling dirt. I thought best to hide from the calendar change by not leaving my apartment, but when 2012 went away and 2013 arrived, I thought that I should do what I'm so fond of doing and ran.

I ran my typical path down to the National Mall but instead of going to Hains Point, I went across one of the bridges that is not Key Bridge or Memorial Bridge into Virginia and ran to Roosevelt Island. Along the way I encountered what I think is a New Year Resolution Run with about 200-300 people running along the GW trail going the opposite direction (then encountering them again on the way back). It was nice to see all those people starting the year out the right way.

I wouldn't have even known about Roosevelt Island had it not been for Pacers, where we started and ended some Saturday long runs. There is a nice Memorial to Teddy Roosevelt that still could stand to have some landscaping, but it's a great refuge from the fast pace of DC. I turned around there, but before i did i stopped to look around for a few minutes and enjoyed the serenity that being slightly outside the city can bring.