I’m a bit of a Kev-sicle. It’s just cold enough and breezy enough that my core is frozen. We were told to keep warm in the surrounding buildings that the Biltmore folks had opened for us – I opted for Cedric’s, a pub named after one of the Vanderbilts’ beloved St Bernard’s.
Unfortunately, despite overflowing with runners when I arrived, a frazzled bartender was tasked with telling us the place wasn’t open. We didn’t have to go home but we couldn’t stay there…
The heat lamps by the start were lit but… ineffectual? Comically un-heating? If flammable and inflammable mean the same thing perhaps heat lamp and no heat lamp mean the same thing here. But I digress. I did eventually find a surprisingly warm barn area to camp out in… but I found it’s drinking fountains sorely lacking.
As I posted to Facebook whilst waiting, my brother and I have long dreamed of writing a ZAGAT-style book reviewing drinking fountains around the world. Biltmore Estate – I award you zero points.
I was cold waiting to run but the crowd seemed friendly … and the sun was rising. I just wasn’t feeling the run. I don’t normally need to run in pants and the pant cuff, hem, bottom? Whatever the final length of fabric kept rubbing my shoelaces and untying them so I probably had to stop and retie my shoes four or five times along the route.
It was a lovely place to be running, even if the initial 6 miles had two surprisingly tiring inclines.
And the Biltmore House IS quite impressive. It reeks of old money to be sure… and while I’m more a Team Gatsby man as opposed to Team Daisy/Tom, I admit I was impressed with the opulent exteriors and gardens. Wrong side of the pond but it felt very Downton Abbey-ish.
Once onto the gravel trails surrounding the house and into the fields, I mentally noted how tough this might be tomorrow with snow and/or melted snow creating muddy ruts. Today though it was perfectly pleasant… if a bit headwind-y.
Despite promises of warming temps before plummeting this evening, the thermometer reading never really moved up. Indeed, there were a few flurries as I rounded the final turnaround and I heard a few runners saying, “oh what lovely cherry blossoms!” only to be corrected by other runners that what they were witnessing were actually falling snowflakes.
Crossing the finish, a waiting spectator graciously offered to take my photo. I didn’t realize as I layered up this morning just how many shades of blue I had on–I look like Violet Beauregarde after she eats Wonka’s Magic Three Course Dinner Chewing Gum.
The post race food tent, sponsored by local supermarket Ingles, offered their own brand of cola products… and Perrier. I can only assume the Biltmore Estate was explicit in their ground use permit — “Let them drink off brand cola…” the major domo probably sniffed, “but WE only serve PERRIER at the BILTMORE!”
