No Trotters Here!

Julie "Hot Legs" Norman and I ran a fun little race this past Saturday put on by the Mesa Monument Striders. It was a six-mile Turkey Prediction Run and was unique in that the most accurate, not the fastest, runner had a chance to win. You had to predict your time and the closest to their actual running time won turkey and fixin's compliments of City Market. It started at Larry's house in Orchard Mesa and around 30 or 40 runners arrived on a beautiful sunny morning. The course wound around B road, 29 1/2 and 30 roads or some such thing. I don't know exactly - but it was very pretty, very little traffic and some of it was actually on dirt/gravel road. I liked the concept of this race because you were really competing with yourself and your own time and not so much the other runners. I put considerable thought and calculation effort into guessing my time (just ask Julie) and ended up predicting a 69:54 time. I wanted to be cautious because really it would be embarrassing to come in way over your prediction. I also liked that the course was not marked with the miles and since you couldn't carry any timing device you had to judge with your mind and your body where you thought you were. It was very liberating. You just kept running and figured sooner or later you'd finish. That was it - very relaxing and a great vibe for me. Plus - the staggered start actually gave you a shot at crossing the finish line before the faster runners! I felt pretty good the whole six miles and only stopped to walk for about 20 yards on a hill at the end. My time ended up a pretty respectable - for me - 63:04. But I didn't win a turkey cuz I was off on my predicted time by a bunch - but I'm happy about it. Hot Legs Norman turned in a very respectable time as well - but no turkey winner either. The closest person to win was off their prediction by a couple seconds I think. And some dear woman missed it by 20 minutes - in her favor! (meaning she finished much faster than she thought she would.) It was a great run, an excellent trainer for the upcoming Moab Winter Sun 10K and a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning.