She Runs LA. I Ran Houston.

Twenty-four hours to start and finish a 10K. Amazing, right? This coming from the girl who earlier this year clocked a painful 2:45 for the Houston Half. Twenty-four hours to run 6.21 miles? Piece. Of. Cake.

This was all part of Nike’s first ever digital race, She Runs LA.

Simply breaking down the name, here’s what it was:

She – targeted towards all women, mostly the younger variety
Runs – it’s Nike, so obviously running, that was a given
LA – suggests it took place in sunny Los Angeles, about 1600 miles from Houston, but it was more of a run where you are kind-of 10K

Being a digital race, it allowed women from all over the country (and beyond) to sign up for the 6.21 miles to run on their turf and on their terms. It also allowed me to participate in the event without having to fork over the dough for a plane ticket out to California, though I’m not sure I would have minded. Instead, I hopped in my car at 7am yesterday and headed over to the mostly shaded loop at Rice University.

The challenge started at 4pm Wednesday and ended 4pm yesterday. Nike gave runners 24 hours to complete the 10K (which is befitting given all the time zones participating), but they threw a monkey wrench in by asking us to run our course in the shape of a particular letter. On Tuesday I received an email stating, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to run your 10K route in the shape of the letter F.”

For the ladies that got the letter “O”, consider that your winning lottery ticket. Not. Fair.

How perfect would have “U” or “O” been for Rice or Memorial Park?

Here are the things I’ve never been any good at, in no particular order: running, writing legibly in print or cursive, following directions. If you’ve ever run the loop around Rice, maybe you’ll understand my hesitance on how the hell you’re supposed to run in the shape of the letter F.

My "F"

Furthermore, while being totally out of shape, having developed exercise-and-allergy-induced-asthma (I swear, ask my doctor), and trying to run a measly 6.21 miles, the shape of the letter F did not come easy as you can see from the route my Nike+ screenshot displayed. But regardless if I ran in the shape of an Arabic or English F, I did finish the race (and in less than 24 hours I might add) and I feel good about it.

In an age where everything else has become digital, it’s not so hard to believe a race has too, is it?

A big thanks to DJ Brandi Garcia for spreading the word about this event. Some of you might remember her from her days on 97.9 The Box. She’s currently rockin’ LA and doing big things.