December 31st, 2004 8 AM
On Saturday, January 8th, I
plan to run the Frosty 50-kilomoter run around Salem Lake near Winston-Salem,
NC. <click
here for Frosty 50 Race Report>Last Thursday when I checked the Winston-Salem forecast I read that it
would be ‘Scatter Showers 61F/43F’. This was about the same
forecast for New Years Eve morning around here. So I thought it would be
good running-in-the-rain practice to do Hozer's annual New Years Eve morning
NOIZ Indian trail run. So I drove in the rain (not scattered showers) to
the La Habra Hills start. I was the first to arrive at 7:40 am.
Soon Hozer and Nancy showed up followed by Tom and Maryann O’Hara, Club
President Mark and Chaennnon Lyons. Of these, three did not start.
Hozer’s hip was not working right in the damp weather, and Tom and Maryann
were smart enough to stay in out of rain and go with him to breakfast at Denny's
while we ran.
Since Nancy had done the trail run the most. She led the expedition.
The entire trail was wet. Some of the places it was muddy and slippery,
other places the trail was rocky and was where the water was flowing. The
first 1.5 miles was mostly uphill. With the rain and the uphill, all
elected to walk rather than run. When we reached 1.5 miles we came to a
decision point. We could take a steep short cut back to the start, or take
the longer route to Turnbull Canyon Road that was further uphill. We
discussed what to do in a rather heavy rain, and elected to go up hill.
Nancy radioed Hozer to meet us on Turnbull Canyon. Now the trail was most
always filled with water. Sometimes the trail was flooded and we had to go
around it; frequently hand walking along a chain length feet. In
spite of the slippery surface we all managed to stay on our feet. Only the
last 20 feet required that we get down and crawl up to the highway.
There Tom, Maryann, and Hozer met us and drove us to the start. Nancy
explained that NOIZ chief had done a rain dance at the beginning of the month.
But not knowing his power, had over danced and resulted in a very wet December.
I suppose his dance resulted in a certain amount of rain, and to get it all in
before the Rose Parade, there was a real downpour on Saturday morning.
Those who completed the trip were awarded NOIZ beads.