RD
Jim's Report Summer 2010, and Wakely X is approaching. Flooding in Tennessee put my shirt printer behind schedule. Perhaps I didn't pay enough attention, but two weeks before the run I still didn't have shirts. There was a problem - no light gray shirts anywhere. The vendor had to upgrade the shirts to the Under Armor like Zorrels but in a darker gray. One day before I was ready to pack the shirts arrive but we have a problem. No large shirts, only extra large. Everyone makes mistakes but it's how you correct them that counts. The vendor had to order more shirts, print them and ship them overnight so that my wife could drive them up on Friday before race day. No pressure there. Each year I made it a point to make camp at Wakely Dam starting the Sunday before the race so that we could secure the spots we would need for runners and crew. The weather was still hot with occasional rain showers. At one point we had some strong winds that blew our big white tent across the campsite and impaled it to a tree. In the process it leveled one tent and our screen house. No pressure there. Overall it was a good week of camping. We even made a midnight hike up Wakely Mountain and enjoyed being in the clouds at the top. Friday night came quickly and all of the race bags were packed. I actually slept through the night for the first time and woke to the sound of the bus arriving at the dam. I'm always nervous about the bus showing up on time... or at all after the disaster of 2003 when the bus never showed. We loaded up and were on our way precisely on schedule. Really, no pressure there. Dave Horton has been an inspiration to me since I read his book back in 1998. After discovering that my neighbor's daughter was a student of his, I plotted to invite him to run Wakely along with the monster he created out of a one time figure skater. He accepted my invitation and I was honored to meet him for the first time at the start. Even though he was not going to run due to a recent surgery, he made the effort to be there. What a fascinating guy, I wish I had more time to talk with him. We all posed for the traditional group photo and I gave a repeat performance of my pre-race briefing. I ended my spiel with the announcement that I would be retiring as RD for Wakely and was touched by the warm round of applause for my time on duty. Definitely no pressure there. We marched to the start and hit the trail running... well most of us did. My plan was to walk-run the first half in hopes that I would have enough reserves left to run a strong second half. It almost worked. The walk-run part worked, but due to my poor training the strong running part petered out somewhere near the grassy road. I gave up on breaking 9 hours until the yellow gate at the Plains road showed up earlier than expected. I had a chance to break 9 hours if I ran the whole way. And for the first time in my Wakely career I did just that. No pressure. Wakely X is in the history books and so too is the quirky little ultra in the Adirondacks. While I have mixed feelings about someone taking over the event, I look forward to seeing another Adirondack ultra popping up maybe on another trail just as magnificent - there are many of them to choose from. I'm also looking forward to organizing informal events at some of my favorite Adirondack spots and will use this website as a vehicle for that. But for now, Wakely X marks the spot where I hang up my hat as RD. It's been a fun journey and my thanks go out to everyone who has been along for the ride. Run safe, RD Jim
Nothing to see down here.
What part about "nothing" didn't you understand? |