Oak Hill Flyer

highlights from the weekend in white rock:

• the miserable hot/muggy forecast called for all week passed through at the last moment, making for a race day with temperatures in the 40s with wind. not bad.
  
  
• while hanging out in the start arena in between the marathon start and my calculated "sherpa's run" start time, i knelt down to tie my shoe and found a 2G ipod inches away from my foot, camoflauged amongst the silver and white tile floor. after asking the immediate vicinity if anyone has lost any electronica, i speculated that the distraught owner was likely at the starting line of the half-marathon, which was 15 minutes away from gun. given the ipod had a custom-engraved message on the back of it, i knew that i could filter fraudulent takers. i took off towards the start expo, found a team-in-training tent, and made a big "did you lose your ipod?" sign with paperboard reserved for writing messages of encouragement to spectators. i ran out to mile 1 and waited for the pack of 6,000 runners to come by. standing in the drizzle, sign aloft, i got a lot of yucksters ("i did, i did!") and a lot of strange faces (especially from the runner who was dressed as a 6-foot-tall ipod. that was a odd exchange, let me tell you...). however, i was getting LOTS of looks, which i what i wanted... i would estimate that one out of every three or four runners were looking at me. and then, after but ten minutes of watching the pack, an eager female voice peeps up from behind:
  
  "Merry Christmas 2005?!? To PD?!? From Dad?!?"
  
  yahtzee! i pull the ipod out and hand it to her and her male counterpart, who eagerly shook my hand and thanked me ten times over. i stuff the sign in the nearest trashcan and take off to the back half of the course. my day was made.
  
  
• had the pleasure of running with james d. and ken f. for brief stints getting up the big mile 20 hills. both looked inspiring.
  
  
• michael g. had the pleasure of me as his wingman for the final 4.5 miles of his run. i'm not sure if he'd exactly call it "pleasure," however--i was laying into him fiercer than i've ever laid into anyone during a race, for i knew that he was going to be wickedly close to getting a boston qualifying time. despite gutsy negative splits over the final two miles, michael missed the boston time by 13 seconds, collapsing at the finish line. we spent the next 45 minutes in the med tent treating for cramps, low core temp, and low water/sugar/salt. he's doing just fine now, and his happy with his new PR.
  
  
• and while we're here, let's throw some suggestive quotes down--not that you'll necessarily understand them, but for the nobel sake of recorded history:
  
  "the playground is closed."
  
  "i didn't think anyone would hear me!"
  
  long live the moody, texas dairy queen.
  

congratulations to all white rock marathon/half-marathon finishers.

Posted by OHF on 09 December 2007 at 22:50 | Permalink