The Twenty-Mile Drop is a point-to-point race from Chardon to Fairport Harbor.
Drop is in the name because there is a net downhill elevation drop of about 700 feet; the finish is right on the Lake Erie beach. It would be my first race in three and a half months, and of course the first since my slovenly month-long cruise.
Joy in the Journey
I drive over to the Brunswick Kmart parking lot, where I transfer myself and my stuff into Andy Wolff’s car. Andy and Michelle drive me to Fairport Harbor, where we check in, use the facilities, and transfer to the bus, which transports us to the starting area in Chardon. That ride seems to take a long time, indicating to me that twenty miles are a long way, indeed. In fact, by the time we line up for the start, it has already been a long day.
Snags
One snag is the weather. It’s as bad as it can get this time of the year: 40F, wind, and rain. I keep thinking that since the rain was from the north, it would negate the advantage of running downhill all this way. Time would prove me right.
The other snag occurs as I am hurrying to get out of Andy’s car in order to board the bus. A last-minute decision to switch from two shirts to one shirt and a jacket results in a snagged jacket zipper. I struggle with it until it breaks. The result is that I start the race wearing two shirts and a trash bag. Quite fashionable, if I don’t say so myself.
Parks and Bike-Trails
Much of the first half of the course is through parks on bike trails. I would be enjoying the serenity of the natural beauty if I weren’t so cold and miserable. I make a few stops, and this doesn’t help my time: I take my trash bag off, use some gels, make a bathroom stop. My hands don’t work correctly when they’re this cold. But then, nothing else is going very well today either, so why bother worrying about my time or place? I didn’t have any great expectations coming in, but this is not a good run by any standard.
I’d run the first couple miles with Andy, Michelle, Maureen Oblander, and Ladd Clifford. They had left me in the dust (well, the wet dust) by mile two or three. But now at about half-way I catch Andy and am running a couple of those middle miles with him. But where are Michelle and Mo? I suppose that I’ll have to run faster still if I wanted to catch those two.
The Final Few
Although I’ve been slow today, at least I’ve been steady; my first three five-mile splits are 44:39, 44:26, and 44:41. By now I know I’m not going to pick it up any faster. The wind and rain have taken too much out of me. But can I at least manage one more split under 45 minutes?
The short answer is, yes I can: the final split is 44:45, and the final overall time is 2:58. I never see Mo or Michelle until after the finish, where I learn that they and Ladd had all run quite well.
Wish I could say the same. Guess I was due for some humble pie. It’s good with ice cream. And cold rain.
