 I read the rant and the retort. I have my own unique take on it. From old military days and mind/war games to bouncing and bodyguarding to now marketing in radio for 25 years, I've learned to recognize a reaction similar to the primal 'fight or flight'.
The male creature much more often than not responds to things they are ignorant or fearful of with faux anger, often laced with weak attempts at humor or irony. Stafko is a large, unfit man with a type of Napoleonic complex. He can't be you or beat you, so he'll attempt to berate you. Rather than admit ignorance and learn, his tact is to defer from him to you. He's the bully on the playground who's the frightened kid in reality. The frat boy who still calls a beer a "brewski" long after the last kegger, and he is in loathing of himself. Suck it up buttercup, from one fat bald old guy to a younger fat boy, better to be a moving target than a bump on a log. Grow some stones rather than throwing them. Lace up a pair of sneakers, struggle through a 5K and finish dead damn last, but feel the honest rush of knowing you finished it and no one can take that away from you. Back away from the buffet big boy, you'll find a lot of athletes willing to share, teach, cajole and love you into being more than a bitter self hating asshat. Phew! Was that a B.A.R.? And as an aside, Fartleks still make me giggle. ~Adventure Geek Russ
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Big Elk Marathon
Starting from the fairgrounds, the course will travel north on road for approximately ¾ mile before turning right onto the Orange trail. The orange trail consists of mostly double-track with some single track sections and enough rock gardens to make you thankful you chose to wear your trail specific racing shoes. This segment will feature some light rolling hills for about 1.5 miles before turning onto some unnamed single track. After a quick downhill and easy stream crossing, the course will zigzag up and down a series of hairpin turns before letting out on a short, steep rocky downhill that will serve as a great separation point for the mountain goats from the trail sprouts. At the bottom of this trail, runners will follow some grassy double-track along the Big Elk Creek before crossing over on a bridge and reaching the first aid station (~mile 3.5). From the first aid station, runners will proceed briefly on some double-track/service road before jumping on uphill single track bringing you to the Route 273 crossing. After going over the bridge, you will have a brief flat gravel road to stretch your legs out before turning right on some more single track. This single track is mostly non-technical but will bring you through a series of sharp turns before letting you out back onto the gravel road surrounding the creek. Water and aid will be waiting for you at the end of this trail (~mile 5). After another brief (.25 mile) on gravel road along the water, you will again cross the Big Elk creek onto the Yellow trail. You will follow this single-track rolling trail on the west side of the creek for slightly over a mile before crossing over the gravel road (possible self serve water-refill spot) and through a field to get to the 7 Bridges trail. This single-track section will feature some significantly technical sections from roots, with a few steep changes in grade as you wind through the woods in this area of the park. This trail will let you back out onto the gravel road which you will follow up to Gallaher Rd, and crossing into the parking lot for the red trail where full aid will be waiting (~mile 8.5). The race will then travel through the inner red-loop featuring some rooted sections and small stream crossings for 1.5 miles, before traveling uphill towards Big Elk Chapel Road. Water will be waiting at the road crossing (~mile 10.5). You will then continue through a field before entering trails surrounding the training grounds. This trail will wind around and gently roll, as well as featuring some small stream crossings. The course will then continue along the edge of the field travelling east with a quick aid station available (~mile 11.5). In the final segment of the course you will travel briefly uphill on some moderately rooted single-track trail, continue across a training field before joining the last 1.5 mile segment of rooted single track bringing you back to the fairgrounds. Overall, the course features rolling hills with no significant “climbs”. Depending on the rainfall leading up to race day, keeping your feet dry may be an option, although it may require a bit of extra effort! The course has some technical elements with rocks along the first several miles of the course, leaving way for significant roots waiting to trip you up over the last half of each loop.
Hello Adventure Geeks and South Carolina Marathoners!
Hope you're having a happy holiday season. The Charleston Marathon is right around the corner, and I've heard from several folks who are running it on January 14, 2012. Now, Charleston puts on a pretty good marathon weekend. I bet a lot of people will have a great time. Still, it could be better. Let's not waste any time and get right down to best and the worst of the Charleston Marathon. 3 things to love about Charleston Marathon First, let me make clear that there are way more than three things to dig. I'm going to highlight those things I like best. Particularly some things I'm considering for the Kings Mountain Marathon and some of the other races we put on here at Adventure Geek Productions. Let's get to it! This race allows walk-ups registration for only $5 more than the pre-race registration price. Many races don't even allow walk-ups anymore, so it's nice to see someone willing to go the extra distance, so to speak, for racers. Speaking of going the distance, Charleston also features pace runners starting at 3:15. That's a little slow for the top pace group if you ask me, but I really like to see pacers in a race. Finally, in true Charleston fashion, this race has in incrediblepost race celebration featuring shrimp and grits, beer, and live entertainment. Geez louise! How much sweeter does it get? Maybe I'll buy a ticket just to the post-race this year! 3 Reasons to the Contrary? In the next couple days, I'll write about three things that give me a little hesitation when it comes to registering for the Charleston Marathon. I think you'll be interested, because I know they've been deal breakers for a few runners in the past. Stay tuned! And happy running, you big Adventure Geek! Jefferson N. Adventure Geek Hello South Carolina Marathon Runners!
Did you know marathonguide.com has listed 4 marathons for 2012?
Stay tuned... it's going to be exciting! Jefferson N., Adventure Geek By southern standards we had perfect weather for the event (low of 62.f and a high of 84.f) but our participants from the north were pestering the Park Rangers as to why someone didn’t adjust the thermostat. Pleasantly surprised by the 7 fold increase, we had 107 pre-registered participants, 8 race-day registration, 103 finishers and ONLY 1 DNF; meaning 11 runners double checked the elevation charts and decided this probably wasn’t the best course to hammer out a week before Boston.
Though human resources were stretched a little thin due to a group of volunteers bailing on us last minute, we were still able to make sure our aid stations were kept fully stocked and have 2-3 follow up vehicles on the course make sure everyone was fueled up, on course, and safe. Changes and improvements from last year include but are not limited to: long sleeve tech shirts (race gift), custom finisher medals, custom pint glasses for overall and age group awards, crowns for overall awards, and a finish chute with music for the finishers and the few but proud spectators. Some things we are aiming to add to the event next year to improve the overall experience will be but not limited to: USATF Sanctioning/Certification, more aid stations, more porta-potties and follow up vehicles. Bigger and better awards will come as the event grows and hopefully we’ll be adding a sponsor or two to next year’s event so we can actually have a packet at packet pickup. Hope to see y’all next year! The Adventure Geeks, Kristen & Jefferson |
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