Race day

I just finished my first 5k race, which was the Susan Komen Race for a Cure. I had an amazing time. Besides the actual activity, the atmosphere of the race was fantastic and so uplifting. Throughout the race course there were bystanders cheering on the runners. Some merely yelled "woohoo", others rapped out "beat breast cancer" songs while others still simply shouted "thank you". Even the police who were doing crowd control and blocking streets for the race got on their speakers to shout encouragement. Scattered throughout the race were participants who are survivors of breast cancer. You'd see their pink shirts as the crowd shifted. Then there were those who wore placards that said "I race in memory of..." I teared up several times as I read those, feeling a little bit of their loss. At the end of the race, the organizers called out to the survivors who finishing and had them announce how long they had been cancer-free. The answers I heard ranged from 2 months to 19 years.
I felt like I was part of something important and it helped me remember that there are many caring, considerate, good people around me in this world.