I Want To Be a Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Social Runner!

I have been obsessively watching for the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Social Runner applications to open. I wrote my application essay based on last year's form, which allowed 500 words. I was quite proud of it. Applications opened today, and to my dismay the 500-word essay became a 160-character snippet. I creatively condensed my essay and submitted my 160 characters (using every last one, of course) and I'm keeping my fingers crossed! My full essay is below, for anyone who is interested. Good luck to everyone entering an application to be the Social Runner for CUCB!

Roaring across the finish line at the
2014 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run

Why should you be our Social Media Runner?

I have been training to be the Cherry Blossom Social Media Runner for the past year and I am ready! I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run last year and it was my FIRST BIG RACE! I had a blast, I met my goals, and I made running friends - both in-person and online.

Two things that helped teach me about CUCB & being a good social media runner were my training with Potomac River Running (PR) and interactions with last year’s social runners. I trained with PR’s Cherry Blossom-specific training program and blogged about my training at kimruns.blogspot.com. I followed last year’s social runners, Fran and Doug, and interacted with them (especially on twitter) and learned how to raise excitement and awareness for the race. I also followed the CUCB Blog and included my recap of the 2014 race on the “Race Recap Party” link-up and thoroughly enjoyed reliving the fun of the race through everyone’s recaps.

This year I will again train with PR’s Cherry Blossom program. I will not only blog about *my* training & goals for CUCB, but I will also share the stories of other PR CUCB training participants – what is their “why” for running this race? What are their goals? Readers of my blog can follow a whole contingent of CUCB runners and their preparation – some running their first 10-miler, some looking to get faster, some just looking to have fun in a quintessential DC race. Here is my working draft question template for my interviewees:

• When did you begin running and why?
• What is your proudest running moment? (alternatively: What is your weirdest/funniest running moment?)
• Why did you sign up for CUCB training with PR?
• Have you run CUCB before?
• What is your “why” for running the 2015 CUCB?
• What is your goal for 2015 CUCB?
• Do you have a running mantra?
• If you could use only one word to express what running means to you, what would it be?

Over the past year I've seen both good (Nike Women’s Half Marathon & CUCB) and less good (Army Ten-Miler) examples of social media race engagement. I will strive to emulate the good – interacting with fellow runners, retweeting/favoriting/replying to their tweets, sharing information about the race, training, the charity (Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals), the course, and the expo. I loved Doug Cassaro’s photo blog of the course from last year – that is a great way to inform people and raise their enthusiasm about the race!

I genuinely love running and would be honored to share my affection for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run as one of the Social Runners for the 2015 race. I have already bought my ticket for the kickoff reception ( I’ll bet I was one of the first to do so!) and I will be there with my contagious enthusiasm!