Celebrating at the Pride Run

I signed up to do the 30th annual Lesbian and Gay Pride Run because it's a cause I believe in, and because I need to get closer to my goal of running 9 NYRR races this year to qualify for next year's New York marathon. Little did I suspect that  the experience was going to be much more significant than that, thanks to the well-timed passage of the marriage equality bill in New York.

A rainbow Empire State Building!

My friend Julia, a Broadway nut and therefore a intimate supporter of gay rights (they're pretty inseparable in New York), has been really active in the quest for marriage equality in New York, and she did a great job of getting her friends involved in the civic process of making our voices heard; while I participated, I can't claim that it was entirely because I was proactive, because it was really more my friendship with Julia that got me moving. She appeared on various news programs covering the campaign several times, once alongside Lance Bass, former member of N'Sync (the Backstreet Boys? Is there a difference?) who came out several years ago and is a major gay rights activist now. Julia sent out emails with phone numbers of various representatives and told us whom to call and what to say. I joined thousands of New Yorkers in making calls to various government officials in the days leading up to the vote to go on record as being a supporter of the bill. Honestly, this was the most user-friendly democratic process I've ever been a part of. Thirty seconds later, I could say I'd done my civic duty for the day. The night before the race, the results were announced, and the city exploded into celebration: we won! I haven't heard anybody say a single negative word about the results, though I'm sure they're out there.




I wonder how many gay New Yorkers planned to do the Pride Run and celebrated a little too heartily on Friday night to be able to make it out the next morning... Even without that inevitable segment of the population, this was still the biggest Pride Run on record, with over 5,000 participants. I had tweaked my left calf somehow while running on Thursday night, so I planned to take it easy and just enjoy myself. Ferran and Uri joined me at about 8:15 outside my building, and within 15 minutes we'd walked to registration in the upper part of Central park and were attaching our bibs and d-tags. A flamboyant gay man whose enthusiasm far overshadowed his talent sang the national anthem, and we were off.

It was terribly humid, and I was glad I'd decided to cruise this morning instead of running hard. I got stuck in some serious gridlock at the beginning, which kept my pace slow whether I wanted it to be or not, but by the time I got out of it I felt pretty good and ran the remaining 4.5 miles at a quicker, but still comfortable clip.

I always enjoy watching the spectators, but, as you can imagine, they were particularly entertaining during this race. Two women, each dressed in white running outfits and veils, held hands and cheered for us as we ran by. A man cheerfully brandished a sign that said, "Running is gay," and I was not offended, for once. I passed a tall man in a speedo who had painted "If you like it..." on his chest, and "put a ring on it!" on his back. I'm not sure whether it was my position nearer to the back of the pack than usual, the fact that I could breathe and think instead of being too busy gasping to notice anything, or simply the nature of the race, but it seemed a lot more laid back than other races I've entered. It felt more like a party.

I crossed the finish line feeling sticky but not too tired and immediately found a popsicle and Ferran, in that order. Uri headed home, but Ferran and I stayed to watch the cheerleaders, who apparently cheer at every Pride Run, and the awards ceremony and raffle results. I've never stayed for either of these events before, but this seemed like a good opportunity to start. I was glad I did, because the mistress of ceremonies was a tall drag queen named Peppermint Gummybear. I want to hang out with her. She was hilarious. She said that this is the third Pride Run she has been a part of, and that, while she did not run in the race, she ran down from Harlem to get to the race earlier that morning and broke a heel. I somehow doubted this was true. Anyway, I've never seen someone who needed to wear heels less than she did.

Peppermint Gummybear

Freebies from this race were a rather stylish white, breatheable baseball cap with the race logo on it and a small navy blue backpack. The best part, fleeting though it may have been, was the popsicle, though. The outer layer was green and stained my lips and teeth, which I thought contrasted rather fetchingly with my red face. I managed to get most of it off before Ferran snapped the picture below. Viva pride!