Frostbite

As I had promised myself, and the 2 or 3 readers of this blog, I did indeed run the Frostbite 5-K today.  It was quite a bit colder than I had expected, and in fact the temperature in Fletcher was colder and the wind stronger than in Highlands.  My report from the Newsletter:


February 15 – Annual Frostbite 5-K – Your Humble Editor drover to Fletcher, NC on Sunday afternoon and ran this aptly-named little 5-K.  The course is one of those “gently rolling” ones for which Western North Carolina is so justly proud.  It was 25° F. and the wind speed was 18 mph, which according to the chart Y.H.E. consulted later indicated a -2° wind chill.  But the sun was shining and the Lelia Patterson Center had hot soup afterward, so no complaints.  Y.H.E. took first place in his age group in a chip time of 29:55, winning a nice little locally-made cup and saucer from which to drink green tea.

It was one of the coldest races I have run, and there was not a single pair of shorts to be seen.  Wind chill is a serious business and this is the chart I consulted:

But there is a lot of meaning in that little phrase "the sun was shining," and after 100 meters or so I warmed up nicely (mostly because that's where the first mile-long hill began).  The sun does shine on runners, the light of life and fitness and strength lifting us all up.  And I was especially thankful, once again, to turn the barrel and run back downhill and see so many younger runners behind me struggling up that long hill.  That is not only gratifying to a runner's ego, but also makes me realize once again, as I always do when I race, how thankful I am to be turning 66 years old in a week or so and still be running this well.