Chili Half Marathon - A Quiet but Fierce Race
Last Sunday Kelly and Linda and I arrived a half hour before the horn went off. We were happy to not have to deal with any of the crowds. Although this race had approximately 1000 runners the venue is so spread out we could do that. It was pure nervous bliss sitting in our cars without the crunch of the bathrooms right up until I decided it was time for a 10 minute warm up. Begrudgingly my two buddies agreed to jog at least a half mile warm up with me. A pee stop in the woods and we were ready. The early morning start of 7:30 AM brought with it a very quiet race announcement ceremony and no singing of the national anthem. It's all hunky dory with the race organizers because the neighbors still allow this race to continue after 4 years. Apparently that's the deal the race organizers have made with the neighbors; you can hold your race as long as you are very quiet. I was impressed with the runner cooperation. After the non-existent hor...