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Post date: Jan 21, 2013 2:42:48 AM
May 19, 2012
As is becoming more the norm (and a trend I like) we have guest race-report writers this week--Nikhil and Annabel! Enjoy! Like Jared, Gary, Laura and everyone else on the Raptors they are very good writers. Where was the coach this morning? Even though he had two events he would have liked to attend (the Brazen Race and the Berkeley "Kid's Triathlon") he was dead to the world. . . sound asleep, resting for the next two crazy track weeks!
We showed up for the race, full of bagels (and, as Nikhil found it
important to mention, “toaster pastries” [not Pop Tarts]). But our ideas
of a cold, dreary morning vanished in the warm air at the race site. We
registered, and received our slightly-less-amazing-than-last-year shirts.
The medals, Annabel was disappointed to see, were rather normal-looking
and bland; compared to last year’s adorable kitty ones.
At the engraving booth.
On the ride to the race, Isabelle spotted a kitten on the side of the
road. (a “Wildcat”, you could say). Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any real
wildcats on the trail, only some cows and a couple horses.
Five minutes to the 10K start, we decided that Rick would probably arrive
during the 30 minute lapse between race starts. But, alas, it was not to
be. Lonely, we waited for him for what felt like hours. But he never
arrived, as he was probably sleeping. (Just kidding. We could guess you
wouldn’t be there when you weren’t around as the 10K started.)
The inspirational bagpipes sounded, and with that, the 10K runners were
off! Annabel, deciding to take down a twelve-year-old in front of her,
started off too quickly and slowed down to about an 11-minute mile pace,
according to her Garmin; though it felt, to her, much faster than that.
The twelve-year-old kept up a quick pace in front of her, and soon Annabel
dismissed the girl as too fast. Sadly, later, that girl was not so open to
our recruiting tactics. Ahead, a large hill loomed, casting a daunting
shadow in front of Annabel. She sighed, and slowed even further.
Meanwhile, Nikhil, Isabelle, Laura, and Gabriela were frantically looking
for a band-aid, after Nikhil mentioned a burn on his thumb that he “kinda
[wanted] a band-aid for.” It took a while, but, at last, the EMT’s truck
was located, and they made their way towards the medic. After being forced
to accept an ointment
before receiving his Sponge Bob-themed bandage, Nikhil and the others were
informed of the dangers of burns, including hypothermia (weird, right?).
Nikhil and Isabelle didn’t do as much starting off quickly as Annabel; and
rather proceeded forward at a moderate jog, trying not to trip or be
tripped by the mass of runners around them. Soon, though, they hit the
hill; and although Nikhil, having run Wildcat twice before, was doing
okay, Isabelle was forced to walk (“stupid cramps,” she groaned). She
alternated between running and walking, aided in running by Nikhil’s
annoying attempts at words of encouragement and small pushes from behind.
Eventually, though, they crested the hill, and made much faster progress
down the other side. The water at the aid station was helpful, and
encouraged more running from Isabelle, while also helping Nikhil through
the steepest hill of the 5K. Nikhil’s wrong guesses as to when the hills
would end soon became unbearable, and Isabelle, although in a very polite
manner, was forced to shut him up multiple times.
As Nikhil and Isabelle continued to jog their 5K, Annabel struggled with
the (rather dangerous) downhills and steep uphills. She slowed to a walk
more times than she could count, but tried to jog up the steepest hills to
compensate. Running down the sharp inclines started to become frightening,
and with images of Rocky Ridge last year stuck in her mind, she tried to
walk some of them but always ended up losing control and flailing down
each slope. “That 12 year old must be kind of like me,” she thought,
“because I can’t catch her on the downhills.” Tantalizingly, she remained
just in sight of Annabel the whole race, up until the end when Annabel
forgot about the competition and didn’t bother looking anymore.
Soon, the 5 and 10K paths converged again, and we were all surprised to
meet each other right at the final stretch. Annabel utilized the final
downhills, and shot off into the distance, leaving Nikhil and Isabelle to
stumble along the uneven trail, until they reached flat ground. Upon
finishing (the two of them and one 54-year-old man, all within one
second), they saw that Annabel was already done, had retrieved her medal,
and was standing to the side, waiting.
Once the whole group assembled, and had retrieved our medals (five
finishers, two third-place-in-age-groups, and of course, Annabel in
first), we all signed up for running massages. Well, all except for Laura,
who took plenty of pictures anyways. They were relaxing, but didn’t feel
very effective. Nikhil and Isabelle complained, afterwards, that they
hadn’t been able to feel half the stretches, although Nikhil had lied and
said he could feel them, as to, in some way, be polite. Annabel decided
that it felt too much like being tickled and stretched at the same time,
but that it was still somehow relaxing.
Nikhil and Annabel on the "see-saw."
Afterwards, Isabelle went to get her medal engraved, and Nikhil and
Annabel played “See-Saw” on an old post, sticking out of both ends of a
large, misshapen block of concrete. We made a new recruit, hopefully (JOIN
US, KIRA), and then the entire entourage headed out for a satisfying,
post-race lunch at Vik’s. Isabelle enjoyed the honor of popping the “big
puffy thing”, and Nikhil enjoyed saying his big Indian words (join us, for
the rewards of dahi batata puri), and all of us (kids) refreshed our
sign-language.
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