Today was a day I had been planning for a while. In mid-July I decided to sign up for a 29k trail race and adjust my training schedule to absorb my previous goal of a half-marathon as a training run. My sister and best friend encouraged me and on a whim I hit the register button, excited to push myself and start building distance for the 50k that I would really love to run next year. I started running more, on both roads and trails. I ran through my vacation and started taking my training more seriously. I ran the half marathon and beat my previous year's time by 15 minutes.
Today nobody showed up. Well, the runners showed up. A La Sportiva vendor showed up. But nobody from PCTR was there to hand out bibs, no start or finish in sight and despite a nice reminder e-mail from the evening before, the course had not even been marked. My best friend Jessie had come to cheer me on and relax in the park while I was out and she commented on how laid back the crowd was, "maybe they know something we don't, everyone seems totally unfazed".
As a gal stood up to encourage people to just get on with it and run the course, people started gathering to take on their respective distances anyways. Although I didn't join them, an amazing day was had by many.
I stood next to Jessie, contemplating whether I might take off with the other runners. I realized there was no way I was going to run today. I was angry. I was angry that I (and a couple hundred others) had paid hard-earned cashola for a race, and no one had even bothered to show. Beyond that, someone sent out an e-mail the evening before knowing full well that there would be no race that day (one can only assume as the course was unmarked, which generally happens the day before). There were no volunteers bearing water and salted potatos, no course guidance and no frickin t-shirt. I was also angry at the lazy relief that I felt. After a short discussion, Jessie and I decided to grab a bite and go hiking in Wilder ranch. There are plenty of loops to modify your distance and it's flat enough to walk briskly and chat. We ran into a few folks and had nice little chats. Overall a great day.
Still no word from PCTR regarding refunds or reasons... Who knows what happened to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment