Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Hallowed Ground

When: Saturday, October 09, 2010 5:45 AM-9:30 AM. Central Standard Time
Where: Veteran's Park (21st & Boulder)

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Hallowed Ground

It’s October – already – kinda’ frightful that it’s already upon us – again – like déjà voodoo – or something like that. Regardless, when it once felt like this time would never come, that summer would just go on and on and – well, sorta’ like some run invitations that I vaguely can’t seem to block out of my overfilled memory – and then – BOOM! – with a capital “!” – it’s clearly within our clamory grasps. That’s right – Halloween is peeking at us from just around the corner – or is it from that other corner – or maybe from over the wall – or under that pile of construction debris near 18th and Riverside? Regardless, it’s down wrong scary – and not in a good way. You see, the strangest of characters seem to present themselves around Halloween, creating all sorts of confusion on what your eyes are seeing and your brain is categorizing. Take last year, when we were overrun with a plethora of Trail Zombie Ken dolls, with a new one at every turn, creating mass confusion on what was real and what was imagined.

And who can forget that certain race that happens in Tulsa near the end of October. Yes, I’m talking about the nearly infamous tradition of the Thursday night before Halloween Runners World costume run back and forth, inside and outside, of that little strip otherwise known as Brookside. Not a place for the well-heeled, but a great place for the rubberized sort. One must literally run for survival, so as not to be apprehended and tossed out of reputable establishments with the force of a gaggle of goons. It’s a place where friends gather, and adversaries should avoid, lest the powerful Good Witch Coach Kathy shall invoke her powerful spell of magically confiscating all the chocolate in the land – which she claims will be properly disposed of so as to cause no harm to any of her flocklings.

So in order to be properly prepared for the aforementioned creepy crawl, we are scheduled once again to meet this Saturday at Veteran’s Park at the moon-howling synchronous time of 5:45 AM’ish – give or take – for a 20-mile training run. In order to successfully navigate the nearly 1 mile out and 1 mile back flat Brookside course, it has been deemed necessary that we run the first part of the Route 66 Marathon course, the hilly section, topped with an over and back contortion of Turkey Mountain. We also promise that last week’s experiment of new Run Leader tryouts has been mercifully excised. Although many of us were optimistic, our hopes were unexpectedly crushed by the surprising lack of directional fortitude. Turns out that big talk doesn’t readily translate to navigational skills, as evidenced by leading the group astray before the 2nd mile had struck. Who knew that a right turn could be so complicated?

Fear not, rightful order is being restored. After all, we are sworn to uphold and protect our Hallowed Ground Trails.

Larry

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