Why you should drag yourself out of bed early on Memorial Day and run a race

I signed up for the Special Operations Memorial Day 5K put on by Boston Street Running in Canton for the typical reasons: to have a race to keep me accountable, to work on my speed work, and to try to beat my 5K time.

When I woke up at 6:01 am (we’ll talk about odd numbers another time), I thought about skipping it and sleeping in. I was going on about six hours of sleep and the bed was so cozy.

I went. I ran. I got a faster time (official: 24:29, my fastest 5K as an adult). But what made me thankful that I woke up and made myself run was what the honored guest, a member of the U.S. Navy, said at the start.

“As you laced up your sneakers this morning, a soldier in Afghanistan was lacing up his combat boots.”

Thank you to each and every military member who has ever signed that paperwork knowing that s/he may have to lace up combat boots. Today’s race was for you.