Runnin' outta our mine!

This past Saturday was my first race of the year: a very unique 5K run, held in a limestone mine that has been converted into a storage facility for boats and RVs, as well as for the storage and destruction of sensitive documents. No joke. The entire race was held inside the facility, with the finish line located just outside the entrance/ exit tunnel. It was a pretty cool experience, something you won't find pretty much anywhere else. I ran in my VFFs, thinking that the entire course was concrete, as was eluded to on the website. However, about 1/4 mile into the run, we hit shale that didn't stop until the last 1/4 mile. And when I say shale I don't mean nice little pieces like you get on your driveway, I'm talking fist size suckers laying around waiting to a) trip you b) DESTROY your heels or c) trip you. There were a few people who did wipe out, one guy got taken out by a trailer hitch, and a few others by the changing terrain and lack of light to see the holes and divots. Don't think I'm complaining about this, it was to be expected. For heaven's sake we were running in a mine. When I would mention this, most people thought we were nuts because all they pictured was Indiana Jones rolling along beside me in a little mine car. A few of the other runners were smart and wore headlamps which would have definitely helped in discerning the topography in a few areas. They keep the mine at a constant 55 degrees, which was great for us runners to get a break from the thirty degree temps outside! As you can see to the left, little Bobby Fox also ran the race. He has been doing extremely well, bring up his pace and decreasing his overall time. Although this race, due to the slightly more difficult terrain, was not a PR setter. All in all, it was a great run and a very unique experience, bruised feet and all. I somehow managed to sneak by third in my age group, and got a piece of the rock... which is actually an accurate representation of the size of rocks I was talking about earlier. So hopefully we can get a group to go down and run next year. The registration was cut off higher than they originally estimated, but still under 500 for the fact that too many people sucking wind in the mine doesn't leave much breathing room. Sorry I missed the bike ride, looks like it was a blast! Ready for this snow garbage to be over with, I need to get out on the bike again. Cooper's Rock anyone??