Sep 16 2008
How Bout It: Helvetia Happened
Perhaps only a bit on the warm side, September 14th was once again, a perfectly gorgeous day in Helvetia, WV. Seven kids lined up for the kids race, which, for the first time in recent memory did not include Lara Lehmann who dominated the race until she graduated from kid’s race status last year. The title spot was left open and one of these cute kids won it, but we don’t keep track because we don’t want them getting overly competitive about this running stuff until they’re at least a year or two older.
The short race complete, and prize balloons handed out (and several promptly popped), 60+ runners prepared for the main event of the day: the 10K Mountain Run. At the gun, a couple of young newcomers burst to the front. 14 year-old Andrew Shaffer (no relation to Charlie) and 13 year-old Jordan Work found themselves leading the race through the first mile in 5:30. Right on their heels were Randy Young, Mike Dolin & Lew McGrath. 30 seconds back new mother Heather Parks led the women’s field, followed at a distance by Katie Wolpert.
The summer sun set on August 22 and with it the inaugural running of the CMMM 50. A total of 84 hearty souls toed the line for the 9:00 p.m. start deep in the mountains of West Virginia; ready to run into the uncertainty of darkness.
June of 2006 was the last time I actually ran anything past 50 miles (Laurel Highlands). I had been dealing with an unidentifiable injury in the lower left quarter of my back. It would be aggravated by running thus the respite from running longer distances. A combination of a fairly successful 50K last October and the doctor’s “okay” prompted me to begin seeking out a longer distance to race (not to mention I was beginning to feel like a huge slug). In the early spring I saw a new race was being run in Beverly, West Virginia: The Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50 Mile. Being a huge fan of West Virginia and her lovely, rugged mountains, the race piqued my interest; as well as did the start time of the race – 9 PM on Friday, August 22nd. The invitation -to come and run through the night- and the distance of 50 miles didn’t seem so threatening in early spring. In fact, thoughts of: This will be a “fun” adventure and I have plenty of time to train, and it will be decent not to have to run through the heat of the day etc. filled my mind. These thoughts were replaced gradually as August 22nd came closer and were completely overtaken on the trip down to the wild and wonderful state in the afternoon of the twenty-second of August. Thoughts of – I don’t think I trained enough, Run through the night? (Sleep?) When should I eat my last meal? What am I doing? What was I thinking? etc. etc. 