White Out at Crazy Horse / Run With Bill Rodgers

This past weekend I was supposed to participate in the Crazy Horse Half Marathon. A few hours before I was supposed to leave I got a notice from Delta about my connecting flight from Minneapolis to Rapid City.  It had been moved from that evening to the next morning. Well, that isn't good. As you now know, South Dakota and surrounding regions were absolutely crushed by record snowfall.  I had to make the executive decision based on experience from oodles of traveling to cancel my trip altogether.

It ends up I probably could have never even gotten to Rapid City by any other means than sled dog. The race was eventually canceled but not due to a lack of trying by the race organizers. Many of those organizers still do not have power today. Rough day all around.

When I went to show support on the race's Facebook page the vast majority of the comments were supportive. Some, however, irked me tremendously.  I do know that one bad comment doesn't undo 10 good ones but I often wonder if people think before they type. Well, actually, I know they don't and the problem with an off the cuff comment in the written form is that it stays there forever, always and perpetually making the same dumb/rude/ignorant statement.

Which leads me to a plea I have made often to runners. Sure, we cannot know all the inner workings of a race and where the money goes and how volunteers are used, etc. I am not expecting runners to know what it takes years of working in and around the industry to grasp.  However, most runners should at least volunteer at a few races. Behind the scenes they will see how it is virtually impossible to honor some of their request for refunds, course changes and any other last minute issues. They will become much more sympathetic to the problems of being a race director and realize there are few people who want the race to go off without a hitch more than those involved with putting it on.

So, staying home, I decided to go for a run and enjoy some of the most beautiful weather Portland has seen in weeks.  The remnants of the typhoon had passed and the fall weather was beautiful.  Lo and behold, I ran into my friend and one of the greatest marathoners ever, Bill Rodgers.

As I had not expect to be in Portland this weekend, I had completely forgotten he would be in town to promote the local marathon.  He asked me if I was going to be in town the next day and if I wanted to go for a run.  My answer centered around something about a bear and what it does in the woods.