Dashing Devi

The distant whisper of rhythmic chanting, carried through the early morning stillness arrives at our house the second Saturday of every June. It lets us know the 7.4 mile Sound to Narrows Race is underway with the military formation leg leading the pack. For those willing to wake that early, it is nothing short of spectacular to watch as groups, in uniform, some with full packs, representing each of the armed forces, run in formation; the stomping of their boots hitting pavement keeping time as they sing and complete the task as one.

Under normal circumstances, tradition would have at least one family member competing in the full course, unfortunately, due to injury and surgery that was not possible. So, for the second year in a row, Devi was our lone representative competing in the diaper dash wave of this annual event.



A full year older, her mission was more clear this time, but just to ensure her success, we had a couple of dry runs across the length of our kitchen floor; running from daddy to mommy’s open arms. Race day found Devi pumped for the event and so excited to wear a real race number. A blur of pink with a bouncing pony tail and flailing arms, she charged the packed course, smiling from ear to ear the entire way. The extra 3 and a half inches we recently recorded in her height helped to propel her into a respectable third place finish.


The highlight of Devi’s day was tearing the coupon from her own race number and redeeming it for her free loaf of bread from the Roman Meal booth, the official sponsor of the event. We were all extremely proud of her accomplishment, but she was most thrilled with her doughy trophy!