Frostbite Marathon
To follow up on my post from yesterday, I ran the Frostbite Marathon today through South Holland with 4 of my running pals. Jeff, Cory, Bill and Kevin. The race lived up to its name, let me tell ya!!
Jeff ran the first leg and the temperature at 8am was -10 degrees...OUCH. Needless to say, the chase vehicle was quite toasty. Everyone on the first leg had their faces covered in ice. Eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair, head hair...it didn't matter. It was freakin' cold!! Jeff definitely drew the short straw. We knew this to be the case when we rolled down the window in the car for encouragement and Jeff responded with something resembling words. It seems his jaw was a little rusty due to the weather conditions and not functioning properly.
Cory ran a quick second leg and didn't complain once about the cold. What an animal. He managed to pass a couple folks and close the gap on the third place team.
By the time I was up for the third leg, the sun was up, but the temp was not. My whole face was frozen and my glasses frosted over. Being the veteran of a slip and fall on ice - separating my left shoulder - I was more cautious than most today. Any surface that looked shiny was avoided by me. The guy in 3rd place stopped running at one point, and I passed him like he was standing still...because he was...standing still, that is. But then I got passed by some guy like I was standing still...and I wasn't.
I did manage to warm up after about a mile. By the time I was done with my leg, I was so numb, I had no idea I was done. I was quite thankful.
Bill did a great job of maintaining our position, but the guy who passed me was on fire. By the time Kevin took over for the final leg, the 3rd place team was out of reach. We wound up 4th in a race where there are no official times, no awards and no results posted. Why do we do this? A question for the ages...
Once again, Alan and his crew did a great job of organizing this event. His store, Running Circles in Grand Haven, now has the title sponsorship rights to ALL the races held in Holland throughout the year. What does that tell you about the ownership of Gazelle's commitment to the Holland community?
One long shower, and one long nap later, I'm ready to run again tomorrow.
Jeff ran the first leg and the temperature at 8am was -10 degrees...OUCH. Needless to say, the chase vehicle was quite toasty. Everyone on the first leg had their faces covered in ice. Eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair, head hair...it didn't matter. It was freakin' cold!! Jeff definitely drew the short straw. We knew this to be the case when we rolled down the window in the car for encouragement and Jeff responded with something resembling words. It seems his jaw was a little rusty due to the weather conditions and not functioning properly.
Cory ran a quick second leg and didn't complain once about the cold. What an animal. He managed to pass a couple folks and close the gap on the third place team.
By the time I was up for the third leg, the sun was up, but the temp was not. My whole face was frozen and my glasses frosted over. Being the veteran of a slip and fall on ice - separating my left shoulder - I was more cautious than most today. Any surface that looked shiny was avoided by me. The guy in 3rd place stopped running at one point, and I passed him like he was standing still...because he was...standing still, that is. But then I got passed by some guy like I was standing still...and I wasn't.
I did manage to warm up after about a mile. By the time I was done with my leg, I was so numb, I had no idea I was done. I was quite thankful.
Bill did a great job of maintaining our position, but the guy who passed me was on fire. By the time Kevin took over for the final leg, the 3rd place team was out of reach. We wound up 4th in a race where there are no official times, no awards and no results posted. Why do we do this? A question for the ages...
Once again, Alan and his crew did a great job of organizing this event. His store, Running Circles in Grand Haven, now has the title sponsorship rights to ALL the races held in Holland throughout the year. What does that tell you about the ownership of Gazelle's commitment to the Holland community?
One long shower, and one long nap later, I'm ready to run again tomorrow.
posted by The LaceDog at 2:45 PM
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