No Day Like Leap Day

The blog is busy!  Be sure to read the posts about long runs for the weekend.  There is a 9am run Saturday from Gilman, which, thanks to the flexibility of Dustin, can be worked to be a little shorter initial loop, and then a secondary loop to stretch out to 20 miles.  Tom Stott has expressed his interest to run Sunday, so if that pertains to you, get with Tom.  As always, if you need someone's email address to contact them directly, just ask me.

I would also like to point out the amazing graphic work courtesy of Nate that now adorns the top of our blog.  I think it looks great!

On Wednesday, we held the first quadrennial Leap Day 4k.  On the line were accolades such as Race Champion, Event Record, Team Record, and, as it turns out, Leap Day 4k World Record.  So yeah, kind of a big deal.  The weather, which had been pretty miserable all day, did not disappoint.  As we headed out for a warm up in damp conditions, Nate informed us that the radar predicted it would really start to hit us at the exact moment our race was set to start.  The radar was not wrong.

With just a few words to acknowledge the significance of the event, we were off right at 7pm.  20 brave souls were on the line, some racing, some doing a workout, some just trying to get through it.  At 500m, the most fierce lightning illuminated the sky in splendid pink and purple hues.  For a brief moment I thought, "man, I really should just call the race" and "I'm surprised we haven't been kicked off yet," but it was Leap Day, and on Leap Day, nothing's impossible.

Most of the race was a blur of cold, driving rain, fluorescent lightning, and cracks of thunder, but after 10 laps, we had our first winner: Benjamin Hana, in 12:44, who managed to drop Terence Ugboat (12:50).  He even had time to showboat a little.  Next a pack of 3 came in together, with Etan Mahgirb showing Skeeter Valentine what's up, and both of them outdistancing Dan Miranda by a few seconds.  Butch Darby was the last one under 14 minutes, with L.D. Williams just over 14, and Kiersten Browne (male), who was doing a workout of 200 on, 200 off, just behind.  Ron McDonald did not enjoy running very much, his shoes were so wet they felt like clown shoes. 

Not far behind was our women's winner, Meg D, who ran 15:04.  Ronnie T. Thomas, doing a workout of 1000s with jog rest, came through at 15:17.  Princess Consuela Bananahammock was the 2nd woman at 15:48, but she led a close pack of Jonny Beating, Sara B, and Kimberly Gibbler, who were all under 16.  Shelly Marcel came through at 16:17, Guy Incognito stealthily came through at 17:30, and Fralias Coles finished up at 18:15.  In the reverse direction/lanes 3 and 4 Leap Day 4k jog, Joel and Christa ran 21:10.  In a separate heat run on Tuesday in drier conditions, Mike Zero ran 14:01.

It was the worst imaginable day we could have had for our "extra" day, but you all made it well worth the effort of living another 24.  Congratulations to Ed and Meg D, who now retain their titles and records until 2016!  Four more years!  Four more years!

Now that it's March, you may resume real life.