Mini-Marathon: more than just 13.1 miles

When viewed in context, the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini- Marathon is quite a paradox. According to the 500 Festival Web site, “the mission of the 500 Festival is to produce events and programs that celebrate the success of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.” \nFor anyone who has made their way to Speedway, Ind., on Memorial Day weekend, they know the Greatest Spectacle in Racing is also one of the Greatest Spectacles in Partying: a weekend full of beer drinking, grilling out, cornhole and cutoff-jeans shorts. So a fitness event like the Indianapolis Mini Marathon, which draws more than 35,000 health-conscious runners and walkers, seems like an odd choice to “celebrate” a weekend of debauchery.\nBut as a true Indianapolis native, this 21-year-old, somewhat-active college student decided to participate in both events for the second year in a row. Here’s a mile-by-mile breakdown of this year’s Mini from a runner’s perspective.\n6:50 a.m.: I arrive in downtown Indianapolis. “I should have gotten more sleep,” I think as I slowly step out of the car.\n7:06 a.m.: I make my way to my designated start area. Through the crowd I can see a Subway. “I wonder if Jared’s here.” (After the race, I find out he was.) Beach balls are floating over the crowd.\n7:31 a.m.: The walk to the starting line begins. I cross the line more than 5 minutes after the front of the pack. Runners range from eight to 80. \nMile 1: As the race starts, we pass Victory Field, the NCAA Hall of Champions and the Indianapolis Zoo. A bagpiper plays as I watch unregistered runners jump into the pack.\nMile 2: Another thing about the Mini are the many music acts lining the streets. Were there this many bands last year? I keep a count: 18 so far. A 10-year-old passes me.\nMile 3: My legs are tight. I spill my first cup of Gatorade all over me. Ten more miles. \nMile 4: I haven’t run this long in a while. Maybe I should slow down a bit. A large, seemingly out-of-shape bald man passes me. I keep my pace. \nMile 5: As a Christian rap group cheers on runners in the middle of the road, I spot two guys dressed as Superman and Spiderman. Those suits must be hot.\nMile 6: We approach the Motor Speedway. The last time I went down 16th street into the track, I was carrying a cooler. \nMile 7: A big screen at the track shows the finishers cross the line in just more than 1 hour and 2 minutes. I approach the front stretch of the track. I spot my usual race-day seats. \nMile 8: The musical acts have been replaced by grade-school cheerleaders. If a group of 13-year-old cheerleaders tell me I can do it, then I can do it. I start to get my second wind.\nMile 9: Who here is 50? a man in front of me yells. He receives a few cheers in response from the mass of runners. I’m 47, another man yells. Close enough. I speed up.\nMile 10: Band No. 54 is the second group to play Tom Petty’s “Last Dance with Mary Jane.” I count a Scandinavian polka band as No. 55. \nMile 11: I get my third wind as a Colonel Sanders look-alike watches on from the side of the road. I’m legitimately creeped out. A table is handing out small cups of beer. I think about it, but it’s Keystone Light.\nMile 12: I started to kick up the pace, partly from adrenaline but mostly from wanting to be done. Soon I can stop. \nFINISH: I’m in a full sprint for the last .1 mile, or as fast as a sprint can be after 13 miles. The road is lined with tons of people cheering. I dodge a guy who stops before the finish line. It’s over. Three weeks till the 500.