For those who ran Jimmy Stewart last year, the wind was not quite so cold at the beginning of the run. Was this an omen of conditions to come? Cuz you know, we all like REALLY hot conditions in a race!
This year found AREC with 6 teams of 5, the Hares, the Mad Cows (Moo!), the Hormones, the Geezers, the LB Hashers, and the Leftovers. As always, the goal was to have fun! (though secretly, we always hope that we might win something!) In fact, when it came to deciding what person was on what team, Dick Ames said, “Don’t put me on the fast team, put me on a fun team!” So, we put him on the Geezers team, which was a co-ed team all over 50 years old (sorry guys, the secret’s out!)
You can probably guess from the names of the teams what the themes were: Hares (fast), Mad Cows (udderly cool), Hormones (women), Geezers (old), LB Hashers (wonder what that was), and Leftovers (random people – OK, so not everyone had a theme).
The race started pretty well on time. Robert “R.J.” Wagner and his daughter talked a little about how great the race is, a sister from St. John’s Hospital thanked us for our participation, and a little past 8am, the gun went off.
People rushed over to just before the second mile mark to snap photos and cheer their runners on, which was the only time that everyone was together. The Hormones spent part of the first leg trying to give Veronica Higbee accurate directions so that she would not miss her leg! As each handoff took place, the first-leggers commented that it was really warm out there! And as each person finished their leg, they would cool down and sneak off to the beer tent.
Despite the heat and disappearance of teammates (to go and get sloshed), several runners ran personal bests, including Ronna “Pokey” Lacy, who improved her time over last year by 2 minutes (just by showing up on Wednesday for a couple of weeks!) Margaret Everitt ran and walked her first 5 mile race ever! Neva and Bill Higgins heralded the arrival of each handoff with a hand-cranked air raid horn. The camaraderie and enjoyment was apparent – as each handoff was made, those present would applaud and hug the finisher and everyone felt motivated to do their best.
Alas, AREC would not be the 2002 overall winners, as that team finished about the same time the Hares completed their 4th leg, but the Hares were able to break 3 hours!
As I started out on my last leg, I trailed the Hares by about 20 minutes, and Marie “Back Door” Love of the LB Hashers team (4th leg) by about 5 minutes. Little did I know that the Leftovers were only about 3 minutes behind me. By the time I ran at 10am, it was probably about 80 degrees!
As promised, my teammates handed me an inflatable cow at 4.5 miles, and 20 seconds later, while I was proudly displaying the cow to photographers and mooing, Jason of the Leftovers ran by! I made every effort on the last downhill to catch him, but it was to no avail (though I did catch a little air when I stumbled on a bump), we were beaten by 3 seconds!
Meanwhile, I knew that the Geezers were less than a leg from completing (having seen Neva at mile 4 when I passed Marie (and Andy) at mile 2.5) with their ringer, Bill Higgins.
The last two teams, the Hormones and the LB Hashers were a little bit back further still, though in changing their name from the DFLs (Dead um… Last) to the LB Hashers, I think the team was determined not to come in last (in their division) this year. The Hormones won the battle (and actually finished in the top 10 in their division), but only by 90 seconds, and the LB Hashers beat nearly 30 teams in their division!
Afterwards, we dominated the beer tent, along with a number of Hash House Harrier teams. Then the announcement came: The Geezers had taken 3rd place in their division and would win medals! So much for avoiding the fast team, Dick!
Congratulations to everyone who participated at Jimmy Stewart and for representing AREC so well! Hope to see you next year!