Old guys rule

The new year dawned auspiciously for old guys who had partied early, then slept through the midnight noise.

The FeMan had decided to run in the Resolution Run Series in 1998, and arose before dawn to prepare for the journey to Tacoma. He had an idea that the roads might be bad or that he might get lost in the Wilds of Lakewood, so he wanted to leave with lots of time. The crew was on the road by 7:00 am for the 9:00 am race start.

Arriving at Steilacoom High School, he was quite surprised to see all the runners who had already arrived. It looked like the competition was rested and ready to run. The gang grabbed their gear and hustled inside to get out of the cold, sleety rain. An ugly day to be out, for sure.

With plenty of time to stretch, make those last bathroom visits, and warm up easily, the FeMan checked out the other racers. These other old guys are sometimes real sleepers and looks alone don't tell the whole story. Then the FeMan knew it: He would have to run his own race! There would be no keying off the competition.

After a couple laps around the track to warm up, he ducked back inside to get a last few minutes out of the rain, then out to the start line. This was a decidely low key start, with a twenty second countdown and a shouted "Go!" over the megaphone to set the pack on its way. And on its way it was, swirling around the track for a 3/4 lap before heading up the gravel slope to the parking lot, then out onto the roads of Steilacoom.

The FeMan had forgotten how quickly one can start panting in these running races and settled down after a half mile or so. It was a very fast clip out to the turnaround, then sweeping back through the stream of outgoing runners as he headed back to the finish. Great fun to hang on and run as hard as possible.

Back down the gravel slope and a finish around the track. Some sprinter shot by in the last 100 meters and finished just ahead of the FeMan. He noticed that the clock said 19 minutes something. Cool! Well under his 20 minute goal. After a quick drink of water, he headed indoors for that welcome post race shower. How civilized these people are.

After showering, it was time to eat, with chile being served to the racers. The FeMan got a bowl and settled down to eat. Soon his companions joined him with their steaming bowls. The race results were posted by this time, so the FeMan sauntered over to check them out. There it was in black and white: the FeMan was first in his age group with a 19:12 clocking. "There's still some speed in these legs", he thought.

After the FeMan collected his reward, another guy followed him back to his chair. "Who are you?" he said. "I've not seen you around before. Are you new to the area?"

The FeMan could sense the loss in this guy; he thought the first place was his for the taking. "You're going to have to work hard to get that first place," the FeMan thought to himself. Aloud, he said, "No, I've been around here for years."

The Other One left after mumbling something about getting the FeMan the next time around. We'll see.

All in all, a very wonderful day to start the new year.

This page maintained by webmaster Mike Nelson.	Search feman.com

Send comments to webmaster@feman.com