Today, Nic, Troy and I got up very early to participate in "The Gorilla Run." The Gorilla Run, is a 10mile (16.5km) run to raise funds and awareness for endangered animals, specifically the gorilla. "Because you run, the Gorillas live!" That is the slogan that enticed several hundred runners to come out on this very chilly, Alberta morning to run, run, run for the Gorillas. We dressed in layers and headed to the indoor facility where we were allowed to gather and stay warm, before the start of the run. I don't know if you have been to many races, if you have you will know what a great opportunity for people watching they provide. You will see more spandex on more body types than you can imagine! You will see people waering everything from specially designed shorts and tights made of special "wicking" materials,with fancy patterns and strategically placed pockets, to those wearing good old fashioned cotton sweat pants to those wearing cargo pants and wool sweaters! No matter what you witness in terms of fashion on race day, you are sure to get or provide a laugh or two! You will see people carrying water bottles, gels, and various other energy potions...and you will see people wearing, fanny packs!!! Fanny packs always make me laugh and I am not sure why. In a race they are a conveniant thing to carry, infact I have one that can hold a water bottle and some energy gels, kleenex, mitts and other things I always feel I need to carry on long runs, but I hate it! It bounces around and rides up my torso, it never seems to sit properly on my waist. It is so uncomfortable that I have had to abandon the conveniance of it in exchange for stuffing kleenex in the waistband of my tights, carrying my mitts in my fists, safety pinning my gels to my jacket and forgoing the water bottle all together. Now I am sure my lack of fanny pack provides laughs for some, but I can't help giggling when I see fanny packs bouncing off the booty of the runner in front of me. This whole fanny pack thing sparked conversation between Nic, Troy and I. I explained that at school all the kids who need to carry an epi pen wear a fanny pack and carry the it in there. We discussed how awkward it is at school, all day with this fanny pack on. We tried to think of another, cooler way to carry the epi pen, but in the end, we had to admit, the fanny pack really is the best idea. The fanny packs allow the children to keep the epi pen on them at all times while allowing them to be hands free, so that they can play and function in the classroom. The problem is, fanny packs just don't seem to be "cool" anymore. I actually think it is a shame, I used to have a fanny pack and I loved it! My sisters and I all three had matching ones in the early 90's. They were black with fluorescent pink zippers. They had one large pocket with a smaller one in the front. We could carry a lot of stuff in those fanny packs and we used them a lot! We could go into stores, try stuff on and never have to worry about leaving our money on the bench in the changeroom, our money was attached to our waists, safely zipped into our fanny packs! We could ride the roller coaster and log ride in Disney land and not have to worry about hanging on to our wallets and the hand rails, our hands were free since our wallets were in our fanny packs belted around our waists! Fanny packs provided a hands free freedom that was unbeatable! We never had to buy food at concession stands as we always had several snacks tucked away in the large pocket of our fanny packs. If we ever got bleeding noses, we just reached into our fanny packs for the box of kleenex we toted in there!
Those were the days whne the fanny pack was the new "purse" we kept our money, our candy our pens and our stickers in them. But somewhere along the line, fanny packs became uncool and we, like the rest of the stylin' chicks in North America, traded in our fanny packs for awkward, heavy, never big enough over the shoulder purses!!! Now when I leave my house, I have two choices, I either carry a miniscule purse that can barely hold my wallet, but that does not interfere with my "outfit" or I carry an enormous "diaper bag" that weighs a tonne but can hold all my snacks, kleenexes, pens, money and other paraphanalia but hides my outfit entirely!
You know what? I think we should bring back the fanny pack! Whose with me? Let's bring the fanny pack back!!!
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