A very small Roger Dix (the small red dot left of center near the
bottom of the photo) flies towards the finish line |
|
As a Lufthansa 747 climbed
slowly overhead and made a gradual, banked turn to the west, headed for the Far
East, 27 runners made their way around a few miles of the neatly groomed mushing
and jouring trails at the Creamer's Field wildlife area. With a pre-race
temperature of -8 F, according to race director Mark Ross, and bright sunshine,
running conditions were excellent. Conditions were so good, in fact, that no
one ran the shorter 2 mile course that Mark had laid out.
For most runners,
this was their first exposure to the approximately 60 miles of multi-use winter
trails that lie between Creamer's Field, on College Road, and the Dog Musher's
Hall, on Farmers Loop Road. This trail system appears to be one of the best
kept secrets in the area.
Roger Dix had no trouble following the well-marked
course this week, and won the race handily, with a time of 26:45. Second place
finisher, Tate Cantrell, trailed Roger by more that two minutes (29:06). The
first lady to finish was Michelle Mitchell, fifth overall, with a time of 31:53. |
