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Attendance was way up with an official entrants list of 8 (9 including the race director). Conditions once again were perfect with both heat and humidity high enough to make everyone practically giddy with anticipation. Start time was 7:00ish with the two jackrabbits Dan and Ricky taking an early lead which they would share throughout the race. Paul kept up with them for a while but finally came to his senses. Steve started out with his race plan well thought out and his pace well under control. Kathy, Barbara, Kermit, and Michael were walking the course and brought up the rear of the official entrants. The RD was delayed at the starting line for a few minutes meeting Tamra’s new baby and got a bit of a late start. The trail was in great shape for the run with no mud, lots of roots and a few sandy portions. The first 1.5 miles of the trail had many new sections which had been re-routed since the 2006 hurricane using bull dozers. Portions of this section of the trail were pretty awful with no shade. It was also pretty well overgrown with head high weeds and black berry vines except for single track kept open by mountain bikers. The last portion of the trail was about like it had been before the hurricane - piney woods, a carpet of pine needles, some roots, etc - so that was nice. The route consisted of a Y shaped course with the first out and back following the left hand of the Y and the second out and back taking the right hand part of the Y. Since the race director was also running, everyone kept their own split and finish times. By 8:30 the sun was finally high enough so that temperatures could really start their daily climb. Unfortunately due to some cloud cover we did not quite hit the target of oppression we were hoping for but everyone was reasonably miserable enough to make it all worth while. This year at least the Deer Flies showed up in good numbers so that was an added bonus. Dan and Ricky duked it out (ok ran together and chatted) for the entire race and crossed the finish line together. I left it to them to decide on a winner. Ricky insisted that Dan be declared the winner because Ricky fell a couple times and Dan waited for him to get up. Paul came in third but his official times are ‘estimates’ since he didn’t wear a watch. Duane and Steve came in next followed by Kermit who had broken away from the walking pack with his renowned distance eating shuffle. Kermit did manage to find a way to totally wipe out three times - and managed to find the muddiest parts of the trail to do so. For his first trail race, he really caught on to the practice of fire drills (trip, drop and roll). Since no one saw him fall, however, no style points could be awarded. Barbara, Kathy and Michael kept up a steady walking pace for the entire race and finished in good shape. I think they did do more than their share to feed the deer flies though due to their extended trail time. With the two females finishing together I had to leave it to them to decide on the official winner. Eventually Barb was awarded the female winner’s medal. Michael insisted on claiming the much coveted DFL/DNQ award which left Kathy with a mere finisher’s medal. Ahhhh Kathy - so close to glory yet so far.......... And a special thanks to the three walkers bringing up the rear - who also picked up all the trail marking signs and ribbons. The RD was cajoled into knocking 5 minutes off their finish times for picking up the course - which he gladly did. After the race, everyone reconvened at the race director’s house for sausages, hot dogs, beer, wine, tater salad, etc - all prepared by the lovely and talented Rebecca. The medal award ceremony was held at some point before everyone went home as near as I can remember. Duane Lewis
August 25, 2007 Deer Fly Festival 25K – Official Results
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