Well…are you sick of being trapped indoors yet? I know I am! At the time of writing this we are in Salt Lake City observing the stay at home orders. I have been laid off, we’ve had an earthquake, and we’ve had to change our whole timeline for the year. Unfortunately, that includes our running trips. As readers of this blog are aware, we try to plan running vacations as often as time allows. It just so happens that the spring and summer of 2020 were heavily dependent on getting out to California and elsewhere to get our run on. Covid-19 has messed with the worlds schedule and it kinda bums me out. Specifically, we had planned to go to Cali in May to do one of our favorite events of the year, Born To Run. May isn’t in the cards but, BTR looming on the horizon did get me thinking…we didn’t even write about last year’s event. Let’s fix that, shall we?
May 15th was the day that everything kicked off. As usual when we go to California for a running event, our first stop was Vegas. Tradition dictates that we stop in Sin City for a night, catch up with Debbie, and pound some great food and drink prior to finishing the drive. Unable to fight tradition (and who would want to anyway) we pulled up to Debbie’s house ready to rock. As usual my aunt’s hospitality didn’t disappoint. Burgers and beer were on the menu this trip and, unsurprisingly, they were fantastic. We stuffed our faces with beef and beer, knocked out a pretty respectable round of bar trivia, and found ourselves ready for the events on the horizon.
It seems like things get a little more advanced and involved every time we do a Louis Escobar event. The first year we went to Born To Run there were plenty of side shows to keep a person occupied. 2019 saw an exponential growth in shenanigans. Even before the main event races you could get involved in, or be a spectator to, beer miles, wheelchair jousting, and Barbie car downhill races. There are hours to fill while you are camping on a ranch with a bunch of running hippie/cowboys waiting to run a race. How do you fill those hours? Great question. The answer is…think of a ridiculous idea, find a like-minded weirdo, and see if your friends want to play. Does common sense apply…No, but that not the point. Will you get hurt during this performance art, meets time wasting, meets frat boy activity hour? Maybe, but beer makes you more rubbery.
This is the sort of knucklehead nonsense that attracts us the BTR. Oh yeah…then there’s the running. For me the refocus happened the day before the actual race. Prior to the aforementioned shenanigans there was a yoga hour. We increased our zen to get the day started right. For me at least it set a nice tone. Sure, I could watch the chaos around me with glee, but I was ready for the main event.
As usual I chose the shortest distance possible to run. Ten miles was the division I was in, Chrysa did the 30 mile. Zen was important for us during this Born To Run. It’s easy to get into an anxious headspace when you’re a runner. I, for one, didn’t want to over pressure myself. The first time I did BTR I placed second in my age group. I know this year was going to different. I didn’t have the cardio endurance that I had the first year. We were living in SLC and I had changed my training around. Chrysa was coming off an injury so she needed to keep expectation in check as well.
Happily, we both met or exceeded our goals. I was just trying to be competitive-ish. Chrysa was trying to beat her last time. Chrysa F’n crushed it (she shaved like 3 hours off her time), and I got 5th in my age group.
The real reason we look forward to BTR isn’t the race, or the partying, or the music, or even the yoga. It’s the comradery. It’s being around your fellow weirdos and feeling accepted, and being empowered by that acceptance. That’s what I will miss this May.
Here is the good news. Born To Run has not been cancelled by the pandemic, it’s simply been postponed. You know what that means? Hippies near Halloween. I can’t wait!
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I love seeing your adventures!