The Gey 5K

One of the most beloved professors at Florida State College of Law, Steven Gey, had the misfortune of being diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, over three years ago. I have never had a chance to meet Professor Gey, though from what students and professors who know him have said, I understand that he is a renowned scholar on constitutional law and an outstanding teacher as well.

For the third year now since his diagnosis, friends of Professor Gey have organized a 5K run to encourage him and to raise money to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease.

When someone is diagnosed with ALS, doctors estimate that he or she has three years to live. Professor Gey, fighter that he is, has outlasted the predictions. Amazingly, he continues to write. As a professor told us today, he has a new computer that can sense the movements in his thigh muscles, enabling him to type.

This morning, I participated in my second Gey 5K run. It started at the FAMU/FSU Department of Engineering in Innovation Park and looped around the National Magnetic Laboratory.

The top runner finished in somewhere under 18 minutes. Overall, I was pleased with my results. My time was 23:20, about 20 seconds faster than my time last year at this same race. Part of my improvement may have been the course. Although I could not tell any difference in the difficulty, other runners said this course was easier. Last year, we started and ended at the law school (in a different part of Tallahassee from Innovation Park). The first half of that run was almost all downhill, while the last half was almost all uphill.

Perhaps the main reason I did a little better, though, is that this year a friend did the 5K with me. She runs marathons, and set a faster pace than I would have attempted if I had been on my own.

I debated whether or not I should try trash talking to her before the race began. Ultimately, I decided to keep my mouth shut-- which was a good thing.

For about three quarters of the race, I kept up with her. We came to a hill toward the end. I made it to the top with her. But then a little wave of nausea hit me. Then a little wave of dizziness hit me and the spring in my legs disappeared. So I hoarsely whispered good bye to her back, and she was gone. She finished the race second among the females and earned some prize money. Luckily, I recovered enough to only be passed by two people in the home stretch.

It was fun to match my stamina against my friend in a race that supports a great cause and a great person. I hope Professor Gey continues his courageous fight, so that perhaps next year I can compete again- either against my own time or against my friend.

For a more detailed blog of the event, see the below link:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftroubleafoot.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fgey-2010.html&h=d7591

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn