A sore throat. An inconsistent wind chill. And a temporal worm hole wherein I’m staying in a pacific time zone and a ten minute drive puts me into mountain time for the race start at Rotary Park in Bullhead City, AZ. I’m discombobulated.
It’s either 5:12 am or 6:12 am. The race starts in 48 minutes. Clint tells me the wind picks up, dies down, howls and shakes the caravans; it’s going to be one of those days, he warns.
I’m sitting in my car, my RnR Marathon Finisher jacket zipped up and trying to stay sheltered for as long as I can. Clint’s right – it’s most definitely going to be one of those days.
***
The wind really kicked up after about two hours. You’d have thought we were in the Dust Bowl series with the swirling grit. I tasted tiny particles for hours afterward.
And so it was a bit of a grind to finish this one. I didn’t snap a lot of pics if only because I kept trying to shield my eyes, put my shoulder to the proverbial wheel, and press on.
After finishing (just over 3:30 and , I can only say how utterly humbled and impressed I am by my fellow runners. I was relieved to get out of that Peanuts Pigpen-ian cloud. Some of those runners were going to be out there amidst the dust and wind for several more hours. THAT’s inspiring.
Gulping down some chocolate milk, I felt the wind cut through me as I stood there. I snapped a few last shots, thanked the amazing volunteers and crew for their help and for ensuring some tough conditions and donned my jacket once more. The jacket did nothing to prevent the wind from chilling me to the core. So I grabbed a cheese panini and headed out, figuring I’ll be back in this 12 loop course again tomorrow.
As a treat to myself therefore I headed to the movies and finally caught ARRIVAL. The ticket seller asked me if I was 55… had I been I would have saved a whopping 25 cents. I said I wasn’t and the clerk said she never knows so likes to ask. Apparently, despite Kate and Cathy’s insistence at the race course that the swirling dust would act as an exfoliant and shave years off my looks, I appear able to pass for a card carrying AARP member. Swell.
The movie was pretty great and Amy Adams was terrific… but when is she not? Afterwards I made the short trek out to the Laughlin Labyrinths, a self made series of ground mazes that are straight out of Bone Tomahawk or maybe HBO’s WestWorld.
I aim to pack up and gear up for the last two races here in the Southwest, then be ready to wing my way to Nashville for the Flying a Monkey hill marathon in Sunday morn. Seven races down; three to go this week.
Fingers crossed tomorrow is a bit less windy…