Ran Hit Remixed

Last week, my dad, brother, sister-in-law, cousin, brother-in-law, and I ran a 5-mile race in Downtown L.A. It was a lot of fun, with old-school rappers performing at intervals to break up the monotony (Young MC, Digital Underground, Coolio, and Vanilla Ice) and De La Soul playing a full concert at the finish line. I haven't been running much lately, but managed to cruise through at a sub-10-minute mile pace.

Like metal, I was never into running when I was a kid. Asthmatic, allergic, and uncoordinated--it just wasn't fun in any way. My dad was even into jogging way before it was ever cool, but I could never hang. For some reason when I was in college, I got an apartment across from a park and decided to start. I was broke, my roommates were away a lot, and I had time. I think it was during a particularly tough dead week, and I knew I had to do something to blow off some steam.

Starting with one lap around the park and eventually running around the entire UCLA campus (and then some), it's become a habit for me. When I moved to Silver Lake, the reservoir which a lot of people run around was a big factor. I enter organized runs with my dad and the others a few times a year.



Here we are at the end of the race. As a Bruin, I've always had an aversion to the Coliseum, but I have to admit it was pretty neat to emerge from the tunnel, enter the field, and see myself on the Jumbotrown. Hearing "Potholes on my Lawn" among the cleat marks was cool, too.