Kelly Christensen and Ruby Bode wear the crowns of the state's fastest cross country coaches for the 2011-2012 school year. Photos by Marcel Such.
As January days go, it could have been a lot worse. Race time temperatues in the high 30s or low 40s, intermittent sunshine, and east winds greeted 14 fearless contestants. 13 coaches and one coaches' son answered the starter's pistol.
The course was nothing less than the finest cross country course in the state--the storied circuit at Lyons Middle/Senior High School. All of the glorious 5K of it. The finish of the course, however, has been recently reconfigured at the finish to accommodate the ever-growing crowds that demand to race on this course. So, this race served as a pilot and a preview for the new finish layout that will be officially unveiled on September 8. The Lyons course is moderately fast, but not gonzo fast. Mud, some mountain bike ruts, and a couple of moderate climbs kept it well outside of the gonzo fast category today. That and a little bit of barometric low pressure to go with the 5400 feet of elevation.
It didn't take long for the group of Kelly Christensen (Thompson Valley, but currently varsity-ineligible due to a mid-year transfer without a bona fide family move), Josh Glaab (Fairview), and Rob Young (Rampart) to make their own little breakaway pack, while the rest of the field opted for safety in numbers and a more moderate pace.
Discovery Canyon's Mark VanderMeer quickly found himself in no man's land--knowing he was faster than the chase pack but not able to keep pace with the trio setting a torrid pace up front. So. VanderMeer spent most of the race alone with his thoughts.
A surprising number of fans lined the course and cheered on their favorites. Local favorite Mark Roberts had, paradoxically, both the largest and the smallest cast of groupies. Roberts was, however, occasionally scolded by his support crew for what appeared to them to be a dawdling pace (more on that pace later).
Supporters were also out in force from Jefferson Academy and Estes Park. Many of the contestants, however, apparently preferred to run in anonymity. Or at least such anonymity as their school singlets would permit.
No cross country race at Lyons would be complete without the football field scoreboard displaying a running race clock squarely in the runners' eyes as soon as they make the final turn for the finish. For some, this was better news than it was for others.
Possibly distracted by the scoreboard revelation, late-in-the-race leader Josh Glaab took a too-wide turn around the last cone. That one tactical error would spell the difference between victory and defeat as Kelly Christensen seized upon the momentary advantage and took over the lead of the race, winning in the final 50 meters, 16:07 to 16:08. Young followed close behind in 16:22, followed by a wider gap and then VanderMeer.
Devin Rourke, Jeff Boele, and Ben Anderson each brought their races home in under 19 minutes. Ben Hershelman was the last competitor to finish under 20:00.
Ruby Bode, finishing at 20:25, demolished the rest of the female competition. Not only did Bode finish as the fastest female coach in the state, but apparently the only female coach in the state--at least on this day.
Behind Bode came the masters' contingent. Mark Roberts (45) won the master's division despite coming into the race with an abdominal strain. Alan Versaw (52) wasted the over-50 crowd despite coming into the race with a tender hip flexor, likely a result of hitting the weight room after nearly two months of mostly neglecting core strength work. Obviously, he needs a coach to help him make better decisions than that.
Estes Park's Kevin Soviak finished next in 23:31.
The race also had two DNFs. Jeremy and Dan Betz aborted their race attempt after an early miscommunication about appropriate race pacing. Once those two resolve that issue, we look forward to their renewed participation in future editions of this race.
Those who showed up for the race uniformly regarded it as one of the peak racing experiences of their entire careers and expressed considerable sorrow over the lost opportunity for so many others.
But, the race will be back--bigger and still better--sometime following the 2012 high school cross country season. And the next race will have many questions to answer. Among them:
1. Can Kelly Christensen regain his eligibility?
2. Will Christensen and Bode be able to repeat as fastest coaches in the state, or are there younglings out there waiting to strip them of their crowns?
3. Will there be enough 40+ runners next year to have a legitimate masters division instead of the two sorry gimpalongs who represented the balding and better-go-see-your-physician-about-that set this time around? Can Roberts and Versaw heal fast enough to make a better showing next year?
4. Where are all the female coaches? Ruby Bode does not deserve to have to run this alone.
5. Will we see Matt Norton, that stalwart of the Jayhawk Nation, in next year's race? A couple of uneaten doughnuts at the end of this year's award ceremony commemorated his absence from this year's event.