With a week left until counties, I’ve realized something important. Rainy and muddy conditions suck, especially when it’s cold.
It started at the Georgetown Prep Classic. Forget any wet and muddy meet you’ve run in, because this meet made them look like a summer vacation.
It constantly rained, flooding the course and covering it in mud. It was physically impossible to run much of the way; you simply had to walk or jog up the hills just to avoid slipping. My feet slid in the pools of mud, even with 5/8 inch spikes.
Worse, it never got above 40 degrees. Running in the rain is miserable; running in cold rain is downright dangerous. Skyler Stasiewicz got 23rd overall and my teammates ran OK, but I wasn’t so lucky. Thanks to a combination of terrible conditions, recovery from swine flu, and general stupidity on my part, I stumbled into the finish line hypothermic. It was one of my worst races, but I still managed to finish.
The freshmen did somewhat better. Ian Cunningham ran 20:29 for 5K to place 17th, and Ryan Kelsey was close behind with 20:35 in 22nd place. The remaining freshmen were close together — our team was the first to get their 7th runner in. Overall, they finished 4th— impressive given the talented field. Unfortunately, the race was canceled before the JV had a chance to race, so they’ll have to wait until counties for another three-mile race.
The next Saturday, we held the Middletown Relays. It’s different than a regular meet, with two relay teams of five runners each running 2K. Weather conditions weren’t as bad as at Georgetown (at least it was warm), but still weren’t great. Rain was off and on throughout the day, and mud was everywhere to be found.
Our B team placed 4th, missing 3rd by eight seconds. As anchor, I felt guilty about not catching Linganore, but, oh well, we ran as hard as we could, and I can’t ask for anything more. Urbana won the A race, and we placed 3rd in that race.
Overall, Walkersville destroyed, and we ended up 4th. Still, we were proud of how we did, particularly in the extras race. Ryan Kelsey won in 6:58, and everyone from Middletown who ran that race performed well as well.
Anyway, back to this week.
Counties are this Saturday, and we have something to prove to everyone. People think we’re only capable of 4th place, but we know we can do better. We can certainly get in the top three, and both Skyler Stasiewicz and Andy Drum can get in the top 10.
They’re calling for rain this Saturday, which would make an already challenging course even muddier and more challenging. Mud and rain both suck, but with everything on the line, there’s only one option left-push through it all and win.
It’s go time.
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