Familial domination

Last night, I raced in the JPMorganChase Corporate Challenge (that's a mouthful!). "Raced" is probably an aggressive description of what I did, but it sounds nice, right? You see, I'm a bit self-conscious about the words "race" and "run." Ever since I started jogging as a hobby, whenever I mention a race to my brother Christopher, he always says: "Kathleen, why are you doing that? It's not like you're going to win." So I've gotten in the habit of describing what I do when I lace up my Brooks as recreational jogging. (Except in the case of the first sentence, where it would have been cumbersome to say: Last night, I recreationally jogged in the JPMorganChase Corporate Challenge.)

People running, not recreationally jogging, the JPMCCC

I like recreationally jogging. Even if I'm not competitive with the pack, I'm competitive with myself. I want to do better than I did the last time. I want to do better than I think I can. And one time, I did win a race, which was kind of funny. There's no record of it on the web for me to link to, but if you're skeptical, you can come to my house, and I can show you my trophy from the-race-I-won-because-not-very-many-people-ran-in-it: sweet, sweet victory over very few people!

Last night, though, was very exciting. I stepped into my place at the starting line, between the 8 minute and 9 minute mile signs. I relaced my shoes (a weird nervous habit I have before recreationally jogging in a race), stood up and noticed that my brother Christopher was standing 5 feet in front of me at the starting line. So, the nice sister I am, I walked up behind him and said hello. I commented on the weather (it was cold), said hi to his coworkers and was generally friendly. He responded by asking my how I liked looking at his butt and told me I should get used to looking at it because it was all I was going to see during the race. Chris has always been the most athletic of the three of us. But last night was a good night for the recreational jogger. I did better than I did last year. I did better than I thought I would. And I did better than Chris. Victoryyyyyyyy!!!

(Thank goodness Patrick wasn't racing - he totally would have schooled me.)

The rest of the evening was good corporate fun, tempered a bit by cool weather. Our company is small, but about 40% of us participated, which is amazing. We even had enough people to justify a tent with catered food, pre- and post-race beverages, and a mascot:

It was a great event. Oh, and did I mention I beat Chris? ;)

Leaving: beautiful view of Chicago from the land of tents.