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Hershey version:
Tracey ate the trails. We all ate some turkey. And Krash got eaten by
10 miles of pavement along the Mississippi.
Godiva version:
Because of circumstances in my own life right now, I had very little
to look forward to this Thanksgiving. But, that was soon to change...
Ultra Tracey was on her way, and there's nothing quite like the
gathering of deads to liven things up. :-)
After picking Tracey up at the airport, Conrad and Joan whipped up a
late-night pasta meal for us (myself, Krash, and Tracey) at their
place. Conrad started a fire, in the fireplace, and we sat and talked
and learned a little more about each other. Around midnight, Krash and
I finally split, leaving Tracey to fend for herself against Conrad's
two cats, who have lain claim to the sofa.
Being an hour further away than anyone else, I opted to skip the
grand buffet breakfast that Krash prepared for everyone (Krash has
cooked for me before though; he's quite the chef!); besides, how can
anyone *eat* like that before running. geesh. So, by the time that I
showed up, they were nearly finished, and everyone looked quite
content.
The trails that Krash had picked to run were the ones at Lone Elk
Park (you may recall the Root and Roctober posts from before). We're
still not sure how far it _really_ is, but my guess is about 14-16
miles total. The last time we ran this trail together, we were both
delirious and laughing uncontrollably by the end. But today, we had a
trail veteran to show us how its done.
The soft dirt and rolling terrain for the first half of the trail is
misleading. Krash, Tracey, and I moved along quickly. But then came the
hills. Full of ankle mangling rocks and so steep at times, that
climbing might have been easier. But, I stayed right behind Tracey as
she steadfastly moved up the path; her pace never faltering. It was an
awesome to be moving up like that!
Coming down the other side and then reaching the halfway point sooner
than expected, I felt exhilarated. Only one ankle turn so far.
After digging into Krash's stash of cookies in his car, we were off
again. We met Conrad and Joan shortly after and Krash gave Joan the
key to his car. She headed back and got a jump on our pending dinner.
Conrad eventually ran back the same way as us, but he had more mud to
show for it.
On the way back, I *finally* got to see some of the wildlife that I
keep seem to be missing. Two young deer, just off the path. We stared
at them, and they stared at us, and so on... They were really cute,
and were showing the beginnings of their winter coats.
Once we were back at C&J's, we each had our turns at the shower, and
then were joined by Dave Braun as we sat down to a *wonderful*
Thanksgiving feast. The dinner and conversation was fantastic. A great
memory that's definitely a keeper.
Later that evening, with the night still young, Krash, Tracey and I
take a 30 minute tour of Union Station and then head over to
Collinsville, Illinois of all places for a great evening at the local
comedy club. (I lived in that town for six years and for some reason
had never been there)
The next morning I seem to recall hearing a large stone being moved
and a voice crying out "Lazarus... Come forth!", or something like
that anyway.
I eventually make it to the site of the Great River Run along the
Mississippi. Dave tells me that he plans on going out at 8:20s, I say
"okay, I'll try to stick with you". I lost him in the crowd before we
even make it to the first mile. I find that I'm pacing right with the
guy next to me so we strike up a conversation. Nice guy. His name was
Randy, and he's an unemployed CFO. Won't find too many ads for those
in the classifieds though.
Randy and I click off, 8:00s for the first five miles. Hit the
turn around, after getting all sweaty running with the wind, and then
turn to face it. It was like listening to a bunch of folks jumping
into a cold lake. "OH GEEZ!!... WHAT THE...!!" A fella from work
catches up with us and for the next five miles we start cranking off
negative splits up until the last mile which we did in about 7:30 for
a final time around 78:00.
I've never run a race that long before, and after doing the trails
the day before, I was pretty darn happy with the time. The best part
of the race though, was being able to call out to the other dead
runners in the race.
We waited in the cold wind for Krash and Tracey to show up, but
finally had to write them off. Turns out they were nice and warm with
a chauffeured ride to their car.
After the race, we gathered at Fast Eddies. This place is beyond
description and has to be experienced. And its here that we learn of
Krash's valiant struggle to finish the race, only to be forced,
kicking and screaming, into a police van because he was leaving body
parts along the highway.
Too soon, Tracey had to leave to catch her plane. I thought I had
let the air out of Krash's tires so that she would have to stay a few
more days, but I guess that was someone else's Tercel. Oh well.
Eventually, its just me, Biondo, Braun and an old friend of Dave's.
We hang out for a couple of more hours and compare notes on a whole
variety of topics.
Sadly, the last drink is finished and we say good-bye.
All things considered, I couldn't have asked for a better
Thanksgiving.
dean, happy to be a Lollipop Kid in STiLlDead land...
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