The Drive
The drive to Lincoln Park in Springfield was rather uneventful. There were a few drops of rain, but nothing to make me flip my wipers on or anything all crazy like that. A couple of times I got annoyed by drivers who were staying in the left lane, despite traveling at a slower velocity than the majority of the traffic around them. This causes a lot of congestion and frustration. On the way, I consumed two granola bars, a stick of beef jerky (with cheese!) and some water.
The Park\The Weather
Upon arriving at the park, I found that it looked exactly like it had last time I had been there, roughly 7 years ago. Nothing appeared to have changed. In fact, it seemed they may not have cut the grass in all that time!
It had been a cloudy, foggy, overcast morning; the kind where the dew never really lifts off the grass. Within ten minutes of being there, my shoes were soaked and I was wishing I had brought a second pair with me for later. Nevertheless, the sun started to come out during the girls open race, and Mr. Sun was happily smiling upon all the peoples during the girls varsity race.
The Disclaimer
Once again, I haven't seen official results yet. It was a big meet with lots of teams, and I was often cheering at other locations besides the finish line. So my details may be off, or lacking, again. There's a lot to keep track of with this large Potter team.
The Girls Open
Honestly, I didn't see a whole lot of this race, as I had just arrived, and was also busy taking orders for the Morton Fan XC shirts. (If you haven't ordered yet, and would like to, see me on Tuesday in Metamora. I'll be there. Not at McDonalds, but at Black Partridge Park, where the races is). I do know that I noticed that the times seemed relatively quick despite the hilly course. I believe Lauren Wirth and Jenna Zbinden led the girls in the open division, followed by Ashley McCollum as the third of many lady Potters in the race.
The Girls Varsity
By the time of the Girls varsity race, the weather looked much better. Ashley Pribble got out hard near the leaders again, and remained as the top Potter throughout the race. She was followed by Grace Jankowski and Macaela Bennett, who both did an excellent job of holding position as other runners fell off on the second loop. Next up was Caitlin Pribble, followed by Hannah Behle, who is solidifying herself in the top 5, and closing in on the top 4. Ashley Coon and Nicole Lockwood were the 6th and 7th runners. I wasn't counting places, but think Ashley Pribble probably earned a medal, given to the top 25.
Off on a Tangent
While standing near the bottom of the 'Big Bertha' hill with a friend, watching the race, I witnessed a girl in blue completely lose it at the bottom of the steep downhill. She stumbled, almost went down on her face, and then turned it into a combination midair flip/combat roll. The whole ordeal had her back on her feet without losing a position and probably only lost her a second or two. It. Was. Awesome.
I wish I'd been able to sit there at the bottom of the hill all day, cause there were probably a lot of sweet acrobatics, especially later as it got muddy. It's like watching the steeplechase. You know it's kind of mean to sit there and watch peoples misfortune, but you just can't help but do it. If you've never had a chance to watch a steeplechase, I recommend it. And there are a lot of good videos of it online. It's best to watch it at the high school, NCAA D3, or junior college level. The guys who are really good at it just aren't as entertaining:)
The Boys Varsity
Next up were the boys varsity runners, aka 'the guys with the headbands'. The weather was great at the start of this race, just as with the girls race. The Potter men, per Coach Zehr's instructions, went out together in a conservative first mile. The whole Potter varsity team must have crossed the mile marker within 5 seconds of each other, with the front 5 guys all in step together. The conservative first mile had them way back, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were 60-70+ runners in front of them.
At the mile mark, they were cut loose, and the Potters started moving up the field and separating from each other. Doing my best to impersonate Sly in Cliffhanger, I scaled the steep cliff face of Big Bertha, overlooking the lagoon. You thought it was tough running up the path on that hill, try the climbing. This afforded me a nice overlook where I could see the runners on the steep downhill, and easily get to the 2 mile mark, atop the hill. Once I reached the top of the hill, though, I noticed something odd. The nice, sunny sky had suddenly turned a very dark grey. There was that weird type of wind that almost seems to come up from the ground, and seems louder than it is as it rustles through the threes, and moves the leaves around.
A storm was brewing, and I'm convinced it was caused by the Potters. Before you laugh, let me make my case. The sky was sunny for the first mile, as the Potters relaxed. But as they unleashed their power and moved up, the sky got worse, the wind picked up, and eventually the rain started pouring. In fact, the farther up the field the Potter men moved, the worse the weather got, until they finished their race in a downpour. Plus, if you recall from this time last year, there was talk of racing with rings that had power over the elements, rings such as Air, Earth, Wind, Fire and Heart. While I saw no rings today, I'm convinced that all this talk led the Potters to develop a secret meteorological weapon that we are just beginning to learn about. Maybe it has something to do with the headbands.
As the Potters finished in the raging downpour, Joe Zeller moved up into 23rd to earn a medal in around 16:30. He was followed closely by Nick Piper and Dale Dominick. Nathan Smith and Austin Bradford rounded out the top 5, while Dan Getz and Andrew Young were 6th and 7th. The Potters finished 7th in the large field, despite intentionally giving up a few places in the first mile. It will be good to see what these guys can do next weekend in Peoria, when they go all out, and we get a true picture of what the Potters, and many other teams, will look like towards the end of the season.
The Boy Frosh/Soph
The F/S boys race got to run in all the raging glory of the downpour created by the Potter varsity men. And this is where my theories about this secret meteorological weapon become even more deeply entrenched. This downpour seemed to strengthen the young Potters. Despite the rough courses, with steep hills that were becoming muddier by the minute, and the pouring rain, the Potter men ran great times. They were led by Alex Stowers and Nick Steffen who ran times that were comparable to the back end of the Potter varsity pack.
While the upperclassmen of the varsity might be a little nervous to see this, it's a good sign for the team. It bodes well for next year, and it may bode well for later this year. Competition for that 5th spot, that 7th spot, leads to stronger teams. Maybe it's now not just a question of if the Potters will be running at Detweiller on the 7th of November, but which Potters?
Stowers and Steffen were followed by Walter Jankowski, who seemed to also run a faster time despite the conditions. The rest of the Potter underclassmen all seemed to come in quickly as well. This leads me to believe that this secret meteorological weapon must be designed in such a way that the Potters can feed directly off of it's awesome power.
The Boys Open
The boys open had a little better conditions than the F/S race as the rain had settled to a lighter drizzle. However, the course was likely even muddier than when the downpour had begun. While the mud would not be a problem on most of the course, the big downhill/uphill combination can get pretty nasty when wet. The Potter boys all ran well. Sadly, I do not have a very good estimate of times as I was busy taking shirt orders and stuffing the face of a starving Steve.
Next races
The next big race is next Saturday at the Peoria Central Invitational. This is a meet where some of the best teams from around the state come to preview the Detweiller course and to see how they stack up with the competition. This race is often one of the fastest of the year, and will probably give the Potters the chance to hit some of the times they've been wanting to hit this year. More importantly, it will probably give us a good look at some of their competition and how best to handle them in a larger race situation, similar to the Sectional meet.
First though, the next race up is the race at Metamora on Tuesday. This Mid-Illini double-duel will pit the Potters against the the Redbirds of Metamora and the Dragons of Pekin. While the men do have their undefeated streak on the line, the Potters know that the race that matters is the Sectional meet, not the duels. The Potters are still training through this meet, not tapering, as evidenced by the long run many of the Potter varsity men did with me today.
Hypothetical Run
Today many of the varsity men went on a long run with me, varying between 10 and 15 miles for different athletes. They braved the strong winds of September 27th, 2009, a windstorm that will go down in history. At least according to Nick Piper, who deemed running in the country with the wind 'the second worst idea in the history of Morton cross country'. While on the run, many interesting topics were discussed, such as the intricacies of building toothpick bridges, mousetrap cars, and secret meteorological weapons. Most importantly though, I learned that the purpose of the Homecoming dance is to get 'hypothetically funky.' The more you know...
Introducing the Steve Gifford Challenge
Alright, I've been thinking that I've run a bunch with you guys, I've paced you in time trials, and I've done a workout during the Blitzkrieg invite twice now...but I don't think I've ever really raced any of you guys yet. So I'm throwing down a challenge. Now I've been training for a marathon (26.22 miles), and you're all training for 3 mile races. So the logical compromise would be to set up a 14.61 mile race, right? Seems fair to me.
Instead, I'll tip things in your direction. On Saturday, November 28th, I plan on racing the FOLEPI River trail classic, a fast, downhill 4 mile race that is often rumored to be closer to 3.9 miles. Assuming I make it to the start line healthy, any Potter who can beat me to the finish line, or any Lady Potter who gets there within 3 minutes of me, will get their lunch picked up by yours truly. And by picked up, I mean I'll pay for it, not that I will snatch whatever you have packed for yourself. 4 miles downhill isn't too far from the rough 3 mile races you all have been excelling at, so this should be right up your alley, right?
One of the beautiful things about this race is that it ends just a hundred meters or so from the East Peoria Monicals. The race starts at 9 AM, Monicals opens at 11 AM. That's a little bit of a stretch, but just enough time to get in a nice run for the cooldown and get some chillaxing in before we can all enjoy lunch. Anyone who 'makes the challenge' will get their Monicals buffet covered by me.
Eligible participants are any current Morton Potter XC team members, coaches, parents, or any of the other three founders of this blog. Note that there has been no review to ensure that this culinary crown will not void the eligibility of athletes for competition in the IHSA, NCAA, NJCAA, NAIA, NSA, or the CIA. If you're really concerned about that (I'm not), then I'm sure it's completely within all regulations for you to buy my lunch. Note that if I do not make it to the starting line, my time is effectively registered as 0:00.0, meaning nobody beats me. I cannot afford to feed you all.
I know this race is a ways off, but I thought of the idea now, and I thought I'd announce it now, in case anyone wants to spend the next two months training specifically for this challenge. Although I must advise you that even if you don't have a job, you could earn enough money to pay for the lunch simply by mowing one lawn. So from an economic perspective, it's not a great way to spend your time. Plus, no matter how much you train, I will own you.
So who's up for a little post-season fun? But don't get all psyched out about racing me, and keep your focus for the next 4-5 weeks on your Sectional race. Just know that there are bigger prizes out there than a berth to the State meet. There's lunch.
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