The Answer My Friend is Running in The Wind

Tim here. Here on the left coast, the sun has just set and dinner is in the oven. What that means to me, is that in about two hours, the kiddos will be down for the night and I will get a much-needed opportunity to run. Yep, I run at night. Solely at night during this time of year. I took today off from work and still was unable to eek out an hour to run.

So, that means that I'll continue my chase of a small dot of light on a dirt path surrounded by a sea of darkness. Although I never seem to catch it, I don't give up.

All of this brings to mind a particular night several years ago. On a New Year's Eve, I was coaxed by my adventuresome brother-in-law, who came to visit from out of state, to enter a 5k race at the last minute. As it is when family visits, I eagerly accommodate my guests and look for ways to spend quality time together. So, why was it that I decided that running in the middle of the night in a howling Santa Ana wind of 40+ miles per hour in pitch black in a foreign place with inadequate lighting would constitute "quality time?" Who knows, but that's what I did.

The race was and is known as the Year 2 Year run. As the name suggests, the race starts the new year running. The race started 10 minutes before midnight and ended in the New Year. It was really quite exciting and novel.

But that particular year, the nascent race was visited by our locally-dreaded Santa Ana winds, which regularly gust at over 60 miles per hour. This doesn't really sound like much of a problem during an out and back 5k race; if it slowed you down one way, it should speed you up incredibly the other. However, the wind came almost entirely from the side, blowing dirt and tumbleweeds across the course. Worse still, the entire course was planned to be lit by smudge pots, that is small fires. Before the race began, these had all blown out. All that was left for lighting were a bunch of glow sticks bobbing along in the dark and one sole headlamp worn by a brilliant (pun intended) runner. The organizers placed musicians at each smudge pot, but, due to the wind, they couldn't be seen or heard. It was quite a pity.

So, the race is being offered in only 8 days once again. My brother-in-law and I will once again be entering and expect a much more pleasant experience.

If you are in the area of Southern California and have vowed to run more, I invite you to join us for the run! We'll have a blast.

Registration is available before hand through December 27.

Also, if you have decided to join the 10k on New Years Day, we can schedule an ad hoc 10k in the dark thereafter. I will provide the lights.

"No one who lights a lamp hides it away or places it under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand so that those who enter might see the light." Luke 11:33

Any takers?