Craig's OTHER List: 16,368 Feet Through October Snow

On Saturday of last week it was 80 degrees with plenty of sun - and a local 5k took place. Seven days later it was again Saturday, but with an overcast, snow and temperatures hovering around the mid 30's - and still a 5k was taking place. If you want to run, you must be prepared to be peppered with Mother Nature's psychotic Trick-or-Treat grab bag.

Running a handful of local races helps keep you in tune with what's going on in your neighborhood. And selfishly, it helps ease the (sometimes) burden of having to wake up crazy early and driving an hour or more to get to a race day location. That then includes the race, the aftermath, the driving home and the hoping that an entire weekend afternoon hasn't evaporated before your very eyes.

At the last moment, and to support a local recreation hot spot, I signed up for the Marion Tallgrass Trail 5k. The funds generated go to the continued improvement of the tallgrass trail, an 11 mile paved (12.4 eventually) walking/biking path from the eastern trailhead site at 2093 Holland Road West, just west of Marion, to near Riley Road (and to the Hardin County line when finished). The trail follows the former Erie-Lackawanna railroad, which was abandoned in 1976. For you history geeks, the trail is loaded with remnants of the former railroad and includes informational kiosks showing what it looked like as a busy rail route way back when.

(CLICK HERE to take a drone tour of the path from 2015)

I ran a 5k last weekend as well (don't judge!), but sometimes you need shorter races to work on speed (at least that's what I tell myself). Also, it is a welcome venture considering I ran a couple of half-marathons within the span of three weeks - my legs were starting to hate me.

The race route, follow the dotted line: 1.55 miles out,
and 1.55 miles back

This would be the third version of this race, but the first to be run on the actual trail itself. The first two years had improvements taking place and some flooding issues, preventing it's use. The event began as a project of the LeadershipMarion! Class of 2012-2013, to raise funds and awareness for this super cool local gem. (I was a member of the class of 2014-2015 and the result was the A Taste of Marion event, which took place for the third time a few weeks ago. The funds go to toward improving Marion's historic downtown area.)

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Live Hard. We Got You.

Saturday morning is cold, grey, windy and wet with the clouds getting darker. On a whim I decided to drag along my sunglasses as you never know what may take place, it turned out to be a great idea. Just as we arrived the rain, turned to snow and in front with me at the starting line was Dan (the same Dan from last weekend's 5k). He, too, was dressed warm but then was suddenly jealous of the fact I had sunglasses. They are only sort of dark and are more eye protection oriented, but they kept the big, wet snowflakes and wind from invading my eyes.

See the pink & blue, that's snow
and its on top of Marion - just short
of race time.

At the gun, Dan and I are side-by-side fighting through the October snow shower. He falls a little behind after a half-mile and I'm working on keeping a decent stride. Within a minute or two, all I can hear is my breathing and the snow pelting everything in sight. My face and fingers are numb, but I don't have to deal with the snow and wind in my eyes. I see my cheering section (Lauren) off to the side and she throws out some words of frozen encouragement (I believe I saw a fist pump as well).

The scenery is quite pleasing, but a little weird as you are reminded that it's October 28th and not December. By now my sunglasses are covered with droplets of condensation and I can begin to see headlights through the dark, wintry mix indicating the turnaround point. Portions of my hands are frozen and I keep flexing my fingers to get some blood flowing. Reaching the turnaround, I wave at the race crew and start my return trip - I ignore all halfway point refreshment as I wouldn't be able to grasp it anyway. On the way back, I can only see the paved trail and colored silhouettes through my slush covered eyewear.

As the first silhouette gets closer, I notice it's Dan. We exchange pleasantries and high five one another (hey, I can feel my hand again!). Attempting to keep my current pace, I'm only hoping to not collide with an oncoming participant as everything is a wet blur. My hands are beginning to thaw and I see Lauren again, she is attempting to take some pictures but her phone is not cooperating. It looks like she is attempting to restart her phone, while jogging backwards (and mumbling frustrations at her device), in order stay ahead of me and within a decent photo distance.

Look hard...that's me in the distance

This is about the time I realize I totally forgot to wear my Garmin watch. I'm a stats geek and I'm super annoyed that I will have to manually load some basic race details onto my Garmin Connect account later on. The stupid weather had me preoccupied with everything, but my watch. As I get closer to the finish, I'm attempting to make out the clock. Just as I cross the line, I believe I'm in just under 19 minutes. I'm a little winded, but I'm not worn out.

I circle around to the pavilion where the race crew is located and I'm handed a finisher's medal. I'm directed to were the water and snacks are waiting, but I ask, "Can I have some that coffee?", pointing in the direction of the Starbucks to-go pitchers of Pike Place brew. They were for the race crew when they arrived to set up that morning, but it's 35 degrees and snowing - screw the water...gimme some coffee is what I want to say. They agreed and the slightly more than lukewarm cup of coffee feels like hot coals against my frozen fingers.

Moments later Dan and others make their way in. Taking a look at the posted race times, I see I have finished in 18:59. A little slower than what I wanted, but still under 19 minutes - hard to complain. Lauren makes her way back and shows me some of the variety of race (and nature) photos taken while attempting to stay warm. She tells me her phone indicated a Memory Full notice near the end of the race. So her jogging and mumbling from moments before was the cursing out of her phone for wanting to take a break at the worst moment.

We then gather some race SWAG, water, frozen bananas and granola bars and hop in our cars to head out in search of some warmth.

Officially...

Back at my apartment, the wafting aromas remind me that I had started a crock-pot of chili the night before. Within minutes we devour several bowls of soup, which had been simmering for about twelve hours, and two sleeves of saltines. The savory goodness, melty cheese and truckload of hot sauce thawed every frozen piece of our being.

Watching Saturday morning PBS cooking shows, we kept pointing out to one another that it was only October because every indication (other than the calendar) pointed toward a winter month. I like snow and winter, so it was pretty exciting to have an early taste of what's to come. Hopefully, this winter will not be like last winter when we had a dry heave of snow about once or twice, but that was it.

My medal & hijacked coffee in the Halloween snow

Though this past weekend's weather wouldn't last too long as we are scheduled to be back in the 60's later this week. Just in time to NOT be racing, the weather returns to normal. This past weekend did remind me of my high school days when it seemed to be snowing, or raining, on the morning of state cross country regionals every year. Coincidentally, this past Saturday WAS Ohio's high school cross country regional morning. Somehow, Mother Nature just knows.

Another thing about the 5k's and shorter races, they seem so much shorter these days. As a teenager, running 3.1 miles seemed like such a long distance. Now its over before you can really think about it. I'm running more miles these days (which allows one to get used to mileage intake), but it's also more of meditation tool - something much needed as we get older (I turn 42 in December ... wholly hell..this maturity thing is for real).

They say age is just a number, a mindset thing and I tend to agree. Though it is getting tougher to determine the cat hair Jameson and Whiskey scatter throughout my apartment from those follicles making their daring escape off of my head. Bastards, I'm just getting started and nobody likes deserters.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - I Need Never Get Old

Can we be there

Oh, just think of the time

Thought of love so strange

Said you never knew

While I try my best

To cover our eyes

It's a common way to blame and hide the truth

I know that some will say it matters but little babe

Oh, but, come on and mean it to me

I need it so bad

I needed to try