I “ran” a 50K (31 miles) trail race Saturday near Kansas City. It was fun. It was interesting. It was challenging. It was muddy. ‘Nuff said.
The race instructions explained that the event is called the “Psycho Wyco”. Wyco because the trail is located in Wyandotte County. Psycho, well, you’ll know after the first loop. Yep, it was psycho. “Run Toto Run” because, well, we are in Kansas. But I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face the whole day. It was fun!
Let me tell you about the mud: there was brown mud, black mud, grey mud, snowy mud, icy mud, just plain dirty mud, sticky and pasty mud, soft mud, hard mud, and muddy mud. I ran in this mud, walked in the mud, trapsed through the mud, fell in the mud, lost my shoe in the mud (found it but not before soaking my sock in, yes, cold mud).
Other pre-race instructions: “for the run you might want to bring a water bottle, and your wits. Some optional items include someone else’s wits, defibrillation unity and jumper cables, GPS unit, satellite phone, Darth Vader helmet, bear repellent, redneck repellent, helicopter beacon, last will and testament, shovel, and tombstone.”
http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/02-09-08wyco_fun/pages/IMG_0009_s_jpg.htm
-before the race with my running friend Allen Smelser, who lives near KC. Warming up!
http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/02-09-08wyco_action/pages/IMG_1998_s_jpg.htm
-very early in the day (all smiles, no mud yet, before the sun came out and caused lots of trouble!). The first loop was simple (snow and ice but easy to run on). Loop 2 was pretty muddy. Loop 3 was definitely psycho!
http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/02-09-08wyco_action/images/IMG_2393_s_jpg.jpg
-still early in the day. If I remember right, that was about mile 8. I was having fun! I guess there wasn’t really any good pictures of me after loop two or three covered in mud. I guess you’ll have you use your childlike imagination and take my word for it.
http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/02-09-08wyco_finish/pages/IMG_0333_s_jpg.htm
-photo taken at the finish line - but does not show the mud on my shoes/legs.
Looking forward to more crazy stuff like this this Spring. But to keep it in perspective, the theme before, during, and after this race was, "well, it's only 31 miles"!
