John Stark, 9/15/21
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Wednesday brought us to John Stark, our first of two trips to the infamous “Sidehill Wampus” course. With only a day off before another meet at Bow, it was set up to be another tempo-type race. Upon arrival, it turned out that one of the teams scheduled to compete, Sanborn, had been unable to secure a bus, while West simply didn’t have a team. So a dual versus John Stark it was. We were actually lucky to even have the opportunity to attempt a race, as the forecast called for “strong, damaging winds with the potential for hail and even a possible tornado”. But XC runners are even tougher than mail carriers, so the race was on!
The girls departed first with a plan of packing up an doing a little “vlogging” on the first loop. With no GoPro available, the next best thing was Coach Irving’s phone, so off it went for a mile with the girls. Mid-race interviews with at least Sophia, Samantha, and Madison… After handing off the phone, the pack fractured a bit as the runners found there natural paces. After the half way point the sound of dump trucks in the distance was heard…wait…thunder? The NHIAA adage is “See it, flee it, hear it, clear it”, so while the front of the race was able to finish, the back half played it smart and safe and cut off the final half mile calling it good for the day. The boys race was cancelled, unfortunately. While good runs were had by all, Jessi was singled out as the recipient of the “Awesome Award” for this race by her teammates for a good solid effort.