Heart Smart 5-K

This morning we drove an hour and a half to run a 5-K race in Canton.  It was below freezing when we left Highlands, but by the time we arrived it had warmed to the 40s with a nice breeze.  This was an inaugural race in a place that is off the radar for us, east of Waynesville and west of Candler.  I don't think we have ever been to this little mill town before, and I think the reason we have not is the presence of the Champion International Paper plant, which although now under new ownership and somewhat improved in recent years, still perfumes the air with that unique paper mill fragrance.  It loomed across the river from the race start on the banks of the Pigeon River.

I remember when I first arrived in Asheville 45 years ago the horrible stench that suddenly greeted a motorist as he topped the mountain west of Asheville on I-40.  Cars originating in the Canton area could be readily identified by paint peeling from the hood and top.  Fortunately, things have improved somewhat since then.

The race began in the opposite direction from the plant, following the banks of the broad Pigeon River, still polluted and brownish-looking but at least not foul smelling. 

You never know what to expect in a small, inaugural race like this one, which had been organized to honor first responders.  We had already been told by e-mail that the 11:30 a.m. start would be delayed an hour because a large squadron of bikers was in Town collecting "Toys for Tots," and sure enough, as we arrived in Town, drove to the top of the hill in the downtown and back down again, there must have been a hundred motorcycles lined up ready to head out of Town.  They all rumbled by, and then a young woman with a lovely voice sang "America" and then the national anthem, while military men and women both in dress uniform and in fatigues stood at attention and saluted the flag.

The first responders were definitely present on the course, EMTs and firemen, holding back traffic all along the way; I don't think a single vehicle was out on the roads.  Many of our fellow runners called out to these volunteers, their neighbors and friends, as we have done in Highlands.  One woman behind me even called out to a barking dog behind a chain-link fence:  "Hey, Blue, whatcha doing buddy?  It's me!"  We climbed a long hill in the second mile, Martha rapidly disappearing ahead of me.  She finished in a good time, 28:38, and I was happy with 34:08. faster than my past two 5-Ks, and with no more than a slight twinge in that right knee as I came down the final hill to the finish line.

While we waited for the awards, eating three-dollar grilled-cheese sandwiches in the Pigeon River Grill, we discovered that the age groups were ten-year, so I did not expect to fare well in the 60-69 age group.  We also discovered that only a single first place award would be given in each age group.  Martha would have taken second place, she knew, because she had chatted with the first place woman in her age group during the race and, despite a heroic kick at the finish, had not been able to catch her.

But it's not about the awards in a little race like this.  It was a good day for both of us; we had gone to battle, we had strived with others, for no other reason than to discover what we could accomplish.

"Much have I seen and known; cities of men

And manners, climates, councils, governments,

Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;

And drunk delight of battle with my peers,

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy." - Tennyson

Or in this case, the slightly-stinking plains of windy Canton.