“Are you limping?” It’s three loops in and Clint asks me about my stride. “A little bit,” I say, realizing it’s not just me that thinks I’m having a tougher day.
Nine loops later I’d post a 3:39:48. Slower than yesterday, but pretty good all things considered.
I also was lucky enough to finish before the mercury rose up past 90 degrees. That’s some serious heat.
***
The very first time I passed through Las Cruces, I was driving my car out to Florida. The year was 2004 and my best pal Brent took a week off from his life to help me do it. It was also the first time I used Roadside America to plot out strange and unusual things to see along the way.
One such thing was a giant roadrunner statue made out of recycled materials. It was at a rest area on the outskirts of town and like many travelers before us, Brent and I signed our names on the beast.
2004:
Fourteen years later; they must have re-shoed the thing because our names were long since lost to the annals of time.
2018:
Back then we were struck that the rest area had been the recipient of a major award in 1992… and then must have had a run of bad luck for the next 12 years.
2004:
Today the rest area has seen a drought of wins that stretches past the quarter century mark.
2018:
Some things change… while some things never do.
