Yo, Lady!
February 8, 2019
By A
my Coward
“Yo, lady!” was probably the way the conversation began. Just a few months ago, my friend, CC, and I were texting about half marathons and decided to run New Orleans this February. “Yo, Lady!” was her funny greeting for her friends and one of several funny expressions that brought a smile to my face any time I heard it.
The race is this weekend but CC won’t be joining me after all. Because I lost her on Christmas Day. She died from a sudden Illness that she could not overcome, and I’m still in a state of shock. I liken it to the time I lost my sister—devastating and gut-wrenching like any loss of someone close.
CC was the one who introduced me to long-distance races nearly 10 years ago. We ran several races with Team in Training to help fight cancer, which CC had survived for more than 30 years.
In thinking about the race we had planned, I first considered not going. But I knew CC would be mad. She would say “Come on, girl” which she often did when I would fall behind or stop on a training run. So I’m sticking with the plan—I know it is what CC would want. And besides, I want to run it to honor her by doing something that she loved to do.
I’ve trained for the race the best I can. On Saturday, I’ll board a plane and head for the “Big Easy”, along with thousands of other runners, to cover the city in sweat and determination. I have a pair of CC’s running shoes that I will put on and lace up on race morning and hope I can walk to the starting line without crying. The other runners will doubtless wonder what the heck is wrong with me if I can’t keep it together. With every step, I’ll see CC running ahead of me in her running skirt motioning for me to keep up or turning to make a funny face. I’m determined to keep my focus on doing this for her, to remember her in this special way.
As I near the finish line, I’ll be happy to have completed the race in one piece. I’m sure it will take me, ahem, a while to run it. And when I place my medal around my neck, I’ll look up to the heavens with a message for CC.
“Yo, lady! This is for you!”
Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is writing, running and traveling.
