Did you ever have that feeling that you're being watched?
RD's Report - Part 1
July 21st, 2007
You Were Never There
What a difference a year makes. A bunch of us remember last year's event when the skies opened up and turned our NPT course into a 32.2 mile stream. The weather last year over shadowed our patriotic theme and the slogan "My Wilderness" became "My Wet Wilderness." It just goes to show us that we don't control the wilderness - we just enjoy what mother nature dishes out. And so this year we hoped that the sun would shine on the second to last Saturday in July.
We organized the 2007 run a bit differently. We went for a mostly low key approach... mostly. Of course I cannot discuss any details. Wakely veterans might agree that our little trot through the woods couldn't get much more low key - and they would be correct. But we did manage to pull off another successful event without attracting the negative spew from the anti-trail running whack jobs. However, I did get the feeling we were being watched.
Did you ever have that feeling that you're being watched?
When I pulled into the Headquarters clearing on Sunday to set up camp the sun was shining and the campsites around Wakely Dam were nearly deserted. We set up our tent city and settled in for a week's worth of Adirondack adventures. On Monday, cousin Bill and I took off for a late afternoon jog to the caretakers clearing (mid point on the Wakely course) via the Falls Pond trail. The blow down on that trail was so bad that half the trail was not runnable. Our 12 mile round trip ended up taking 6 hours. Way to taper Jim.
Well, the rest of the week was uneventful except for two days of solid rain. What harm could that do? Before I knew it, it was Friday afternoon and trail runners from across the country and [Oh!] Canada were trickling in. Three thirty AM Saturday came too quick and soon the familiar clatter of the big blue bus broke the morning slumber.
Waiting at the start while I carry on about trail runner haters was getting old. So in my pre-race briefing, I stuck to the basic navigation and safety issues. I also passed along the news that the DEC completed clearing of the blowdown and it looked like the trail was in good shape- LIES!! ALL LIES!! To be fair (to me), you may recall my lawyerly caveat "but that's no guarantee."
RD Jim offers runners one last chance to back out.