On Saturday, June 23rd, I completed my first quarter marathon.
(Psst...it's not much longer than a 10K, but calling it a "quarter marathon" sounds a lot more impressive!)
It was an accomplishment that wasn't supposed to happen, but a last-minute change of plans made it possible.
There's a saying in General Aviation: Travel by small plane is great when it doesn't matter when you get there. The reason for that is that small planes are highly affected by weather, as are their pilots. My husband Mike is a VFR pilot, meaning he's trained only to fly by sight, not by instruments. So, if the weather is bad, our journey may be delayed or cancelled entirely. It requires a "go with the flow" mentality and the ability to quickly find other exciting things to do.
Our original plans for the weekend were super fun. We were going to fly from Vegas to the airport in Camarillo, California, where they were hosting a 5K obstacle race entertainingly called Mudapalooza. Our pilot friends Gary and Elaine live in Camarillo and stow both their planes at the airport. They, along with Mike, were going to enjoy VIP spectator seats at the event so they could all watch me make a fool of myself in style.
The California coast is generally socked in with fog in the morning, which doesn't seem like a big problem. Just land there in the afternoon, right? Um, not quite. Vegas has its own weather challenges. At this time of year, it gets very hot very fast and stays that way most of the day. Wind is also a factor. Those gusts aren't just potentially dangerous; they also make for very turbulent flight. Keep your vomit bags handy!
Bottom line: between the heat, the wind and the cloud cover on the coast, we couldn't get ourselves to Camarillo safely or comfortably by air.
Mudapalooza at Camarillo was out, but we weren't giving up on finding adventure somewhere else.
Cedar City, Utah, is only an hour or so north of Vegas by DA40, versus the two and a half hours it takes to reach Camarillo, and there's no fog. The deal was sealed when I learned that there were still spots available in the Groovefest Run for the Music Quarter Marathon. This 6.6-mile race included a half-mile underground segment with disco balls, glow sticks, and music. Oh yeah! DISCO BALLS!!
Race day kicked off with a missing shuttle bus driver, causing us to start the quarter marathon about 20 minutes late. Then came news that the dirt-packed entrance to the underground portion was flooded and tricky to navigate. I didn't mind; I got some mud in after all! The disco balls were miniaturized and scarce, but they dimly lit our paths as groovy 70s singles echoed in the concrete corridor. It was nifty catching glimpses of colorful graffiti while running through the darkened space. The tunnel opened onto a pretty two-lane path set through green hills on the right and gentle slopes with rooftops on the left. The scenery was so pretty, such a nice contrast to the desert vistas in Vegas. There was even a live musical duo strumming guitars toward the end of the race.
It was a great race. I earned another one-of-a-kind medal - a CD imprinted with the Groovefest logo - to add to my collection, and I can now say that I've run underground and with disco lights!
I agree that "quarter marathon" sounds cooler than a 10k. That's a really neat race medal too. Sometimes a change of plans can be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteTotally, Becky. I'm so glad it worked out the way it did. And they were so clever with the medal: inexpensive but one-of-a-kind. :)
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