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One job a parent has is to protect their child or to at least get them "out of trouble" especially when their child has a tendency to do just that.
My mom did just that... In her own way. More on that later...
I had nothing for June. Nothing. I wanted to do Hatfield and McCoy but I waited and waited for different reasons and I ended up with nada. This came up. The Sri Chinmoy people had 3 races going on. A 24 hour race (NO WAY!), a 12 hour race (NO WAY!) and a midnight marathon. Jamey and the Freds were going and I was on the fence until I said ok. What is it? It's a marathon that starts at midnight. Yes, midnight in the dark.
A week before the race, the canadian wildfires blew so much smoke our way, that our sky turned mustard yellow. Check out the pictures... Everyone learned about the AQI (Air Quality Index). It got as high as 488. It was bad. Still race day was good.
I have done the Self Transcendence Marathon with them. Same thing but during the day and I knew it was good. For the most part flat, looped course. It's just under a 3 mile loop with 3 aid stations!!! The day version had great aid stations. Each was fully stocked with goodies. Here, only the Start/Finish would be fully stocked while the others only had hydration but still. No need for a bottle or anything. You just need a headlamp...
Elizabeth was not happy with it or me. Our usual argument of sleep deprivation arose. Awesome... She even texted it to Jamey and both Freds, all of whom were smart enough not to respond...
I had a very full Saturday with the usual stuff. Got a little nap in. Worked some more and eventually Jamey came and picked me up. I wasn't sure what to wear but eventually when we got there, decided on a long sleeve. I was a little cold...
The Freds went to the wrong entrance (expected) but eventually found their way. I was nervous. I forgot to bring an extra bag of wipes and all I had was my emergency stash. To make things worse (is that even possible?), I just couldn't go...
And so we started the 9 loops... I was with Jamey. Freds in back somewhere. Mikey joins us on/off. Matet eventually passes us. We pass her. She passes us. I think she looped us at one point too. I don't remember anymore. I kept asking Mikey to join us but he was always a little in back.
Jamey and I made friend with people. Eventually we had to let them go. That's ok...
We saw Russian Mike. He was hurting badly. He did the 24 hours race last year nad initially liked it and then hated it. I talked to him during the night and pushed him. At the finish, he told me "NEVER EFFing AGAIN!". And then a year went by and he decided to do it again anyway.
A few days before the race, he strained his back. Badly. Had trouble walking. Nonetheless, Saturday during the day, he sends me a picture of his watch showing me that he already did a marathon. Nice! Now, he was in a bad place. Right away he got blisters. When we got there, he was walking in agony BUT he already had 50 miles...
We saw him on/off during the race...
From people we heard that there were a TON of racoons on the course. A whole family of them. Our headlights constantly found deer in the woods. I referred to them as alligators from the lake and we also referred to them as rabid coyotes if I remember correctly. Matet hated me everytime I said that as she was afraid. Matet is usually either on or off and that time with all the knee issues and surgery needed etc was ON. In fact, she was on FIRE! She ran well that day.
Some things we saw on the course... There was an area that was sort of a garden and there was a hay pile and in front of it was a pair of shoes. It was eerie. Near that was a scarecrow which was dressed in a dress and she was scary too...
Last 2 or more loops, Jamey and I were with Tara Simmons and Robert Vogel. Tara really reminded me of Amanda "The Lioness" Nunes. We had a good time talking to them. Robert every so often would push the pace and leave us, causing us to scramble to bridge to him. Anytime he was annoyed with Tara, he would blind her with his flashlight. It was funny. We had a good time talking to them.
Rob was amazed that he found another person who cycles in the middle of the night. He spoke about how he and Tara both do that and I said that I did too and that caused his jaw to drop but it makes sense to do... It truly is. Kindred spirit...
We talked about the dukes of hazard and other shows. It was good.
Last lap, Mikey left us. No word. Just left us. In fact, he finished, found Matet and they both left. No goodbye. No nothing. Just the usual, out.
Tara and Jamey pushed. I couldn't get Robert to go faster so we went slower. That's ok. I didn't care too much about this race. Still don't...
We left at the same time as Russian Mike. He managed 64.84 and was happy. Made sure he told me he got home ok. Jamey dropped me off and I walked the dogs with Elizabeth. I then ate and showered. She wasn't too happy with me but was ok. We then went shopping and errands and visited my mom too. My mom was really out of it and so it was really not an easy visit. Lunch came and I was falling asleep so she told me to go sleep with the dogs in the living room on the floor already. I kinda do that every Saturday. She did eventually join me and it was nice. I had Lily with me while she had Missy with her. Both dogs were happy...
And then I was woken up by a phone call. I had set up an alarm as I had to be at the ymca to lead inservice but this was a phone call. I can not say that I was truly awake. I had the person repeat the news back to me a few times. I repeated what they said as well. Just a recap real quick. Elizabeth wasn't too happy with me for not sleeping at night at all. This was compounded by inservice. Not too happy with me... Well, my mom and the phone call, both got me out of trouble. If this is gonna piss anyone off, that's not my problem. Just saying. This is my race report and how I decided to look at it. Be forewarned... The phone call was that my mom died...
Sucks. Expected. Should have happened a long time ago. Finally did. Were waiting for it. Glad to have seen her a few hours pre. Still hit me like a sack of bricks. Both Elizabeth and I were a little groggy from the nap. The call woke me up. I had to break the news to Elizabeth. I had to reach my sister which proved difficult. Still, in her death, my mom got me out of trouble. I was no longer in trouble for not sleeping all night. Nor was I in trouble for inservice too.
Another close to an another chapter in my (our) life.
