Short recap: Had a long drive down to Chugiak to be fresh for the Iditarod picnic on Sat. Great plan, but; instead I got there and had a wonderful time drinking coffee and talking till the wee hours. Distance mushers are pretty adept at functioning without sleep, luckily. Picnic was great fun. The first day sign up field of 54 was impressive, a list of names to motivate a musher to work his or her butt off in preparation. Post picnic I grabbed my drop bags, all that is left of the hours of preparation and packing, now shipped back to be sorted and stowed. Another night* down south (*of girl talk and coffee till dawn) before I planned on heading home, with a stop in Healy Alaska at the Usibelli Coal Mine for the Run of the Mine. The 10K fun event is a fundraiser for the local Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department (TVVFD). As if a good cause and a fun race with my friends were not enough reason; Usibelli is a long time sponsor of Dew Claw, and I was looking forward to seeing the mine in person and saying “thank you” to the folks in the Healy office.
Now I was pretty sure going into it, but in case there was any doubt: Very little sleep and a road trip fueled by multiple lattes is not really the best pre-race day plan. Times aside (interested, you can see all the race results here) I had a wonderful time. Got there early and was able to get a good warm up and stretch. Being around a upbeat group always helps my energy, as I feed on other peoples excitement about the run ahead. The start was signaled by the horn of a truck. Not just any horn on any truck. But the blast that can only be delivered by a mine truck with tires that are almost twice as tall as you are! OK girl ~ dig deep, you have done more on less sleep.
Check out the tires on this truck! and the smiles on the runners~
The race course itself was an out and back, using mine roads. It started with a gentle uphill climb, and then had a really good climb, once you got to the top there were great sweeping views of the area, and one more gentle rolling hill. I have to honestly say I was really surprised how very beautiful and lush it was. (Jokingly in an interview for the local news I would explain my less them Olympic quality time by blaming the views, I simply had to slow down and enjoy them.) Now a course like this has two really awesome advantages.
First; on an out and back you get to see everyone! So everyone get to cheer for each other, you get to slap hands and shout encouragement as you pass, it’s great for moral, and as far as I am concerned a lot of fun. I am a natural cheerleader, and even stopped for a few hugs. A younger woman who had been running near me during the race came up after and said, “Nice Job Jodi”. “Wow Thanks, You too.” Says I, “um but how do you know my name?” Apparently in the passing and cheering she picked up on it. That’s just one of the reasons I keep coming to races, the people, I have some wonderful friends who join me in the Running Club North events, and it is as much a social occasion with everyone cheering for each other as it is a race. And check out this great photo album from the event. What I love about it is that you will see photos of all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities of runners! Yeah baby, strong is the new sexy.
Second; is the course as mostly uphill on the way out, then guess what? Downhill for the run home!
Having nothing to do with the race course, but another perk.
This year the Run of the Mines raised $1,154 that was presented to Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department at the post race awards.
Awards were not all that was to be had after the run. Healy’s local Black Diamond Café took care of food. A brunch inspired buffet that had you covered. Feeling healthy? fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, cheese and crackers. Need a reward? muffins & Danish. Want the real meal? sausage and mini pancakes with buttery syrup. Oh yeah and they had coffee. The race was a Huge success, no surprise as race director Jane Lanford is herself an avid racer. A well thought out and supported race course, cool prizes, hats for racers, and a fun post race event. Even got my daily dog talk fix, with Kristin Knight Pace. We had met through mutual mushing friends, but it was mostly an online relationship (she was actually in McGrath my rookie year, however I was pretty oblivious to that then) . We did have a lot of fun and laughs during a phone interview for an article she wrote on how Mother Nature dances with mushers on the trail. Now it was nice to see her and catch up in person. I had my daily exercise, dog talk, a good meal, social time with some great friends, a fresh cup of joe, and was now feeling totally satisfied.
The drive home was uneventful, which was fine by me, plenty of excitement already. For those of you following the blog, you know my reliable Tacoma Twyla suffered injuries this winter when a moose decided to throw itself at my bumper on early morning on an icy road. I am now driving Ziggy; a purplish Toyota Tacoma. Ziggy has cruise control, a new feature for me, and one I have certainly gotten used to. Being able to stretch and wiggle my legs on long road trips makes a world of difference. I can stand on a dog sled for hours on end… but coop me up in the cab of a truck, and I do not care how good the playlist is, I get antsy and feel crampy in my legs. Not complaining, I had put on some serious miles & seen beautiful country, I’d seen more people in 2 days then I sometimes do in 2 weeks, stated my intention to run the 2013 Iditarod, and confirmed my commitment to fun fitness. And when it was all said and done late Sunday night I sure was glad to be out of the truck and home!
My weekend’s fun was fueled by caffeine and volunteers, so THANK YOU to the wonderful volunteers at Iditarod and Usibelli!!!
