ENTRY #1
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010
“THE” home meet.
We only get to have one home race per season. It is located at Pier Park which is a lengthy 2 miles from campus. Pier Park is the first race for most of the runners on the team. It is not a very fast course because there are several steep short hills, but it is a fun course and easy for spectators to come and watch. This was the first year (of my 3 years at Pier Park) that it was perfect racing weather and not unbearably hot. The event brought a good sized crowd this year as well.
Race day started with a van ride to the park (2pm). We arrived at 2:05 p.m. The team arrived 2 hours ahead of race time (4pm), enough time to eat, take a quick nap, talk to the team about other teams, get nervous, talk to Ian, get more nervous, switch your spikes out from the last season….and THEN begin to warm-up. There’s always plenty of time allotted for getting ready to race. Frankly, there is way too much time to think about what’s about to happen when you step on the starting line.
Since I didn’t race at the home meet, I got to run around with the crowd cheering as the racers wove through the circle route of the park. Kellie Houser followed the lead biker, a fellow UPXC Men’s Runner. Kellie led the entire race, coming through the first mile around 5:20. It was a great race for the women Pilots. The freshman showed great potential for the season to come. Natasha Verma and Melissa Hastings especially had a great first race at the colligate level.
Overall, it was a fun home meet. We had a large amount of UP students show up and cheer the guys and girls teams on. Nora Panitz a UPXC alumni showed up and watched the race also. Wally, the school mascot, even made a presence at the race. For the first time, Pier Park had advertising the week prior, music at the race, free XC water bottle give-aways, and UP cowbells!!! On top of that, we were graced by the presence of Olympic runners, Kara and Adam Goucher. SO COOL!
Now it’s back to the trails until our next race at Wisconsin.
- Lyndy Davis