7.27.2008

Jay Challenge, 2008

Mud. Water. Mountain. It was all there. Everybody: post reports in At The Start
the comments and I'll promote them to this main article. Even though we've talked it out endlessly over beer, pizza, bacon and hot tubs, it'll be good to have this all down for posterity. And who knows - there may be somebody in our lives who hasn't yet heard repetitive, redundant & tediously verbose descriptions of each section of that run, along with stories of who disappeared in which mud-hole.

I have to say, it was a great group at the house. Thanks to the PM for getting the house, thanks to Sue for the pizza, to Vicky for the foozball body slam, to tMail for such vicious domination of the pingpong table, to g-$$$ for the veggies, to MadDog for inspiration, to Rick for the half-marathon tales from the darkside, to Pat for the chicken-eaten-by-ferrets stories and to Spanky for eating all the leftovers.

I had decided last year that Jay 2008 was the last, but now I'm not so sure.

And oh, what a difference a day makes. The National Weather Service issued the following special weather statement for today for all of northern Vermont:

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND SOUTH
OF A NEWPORT VERMONT TO NEWCOMB NEW YORK LINE BY EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE
AND INTENSITY AS THEY MOVE INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VERMONT
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE HAIL UP
TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER AND ISOLATED STRONG AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS.

IN ADDITION...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND LOCALIZED
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ACCOMPANY THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON. THE COMBINATION OF RECENT RAINS...RESULTING IN HIGH
WATER LEVELS AND SATURATED GROUNDS...ALONG WITH MORE
THUNDERSTORMS...WILL CAUSE MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR
DRAINAGE AREAS.

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH ACROSS CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN VERMONT BY EARLY THIS EVENING.
[Update 7/27 3:20pm] Pics are posted (what few there are)

6 comments:

  1. Ok here goes, in no order:

    1. Mr. Reems, aka a runner #85, in retrospect, I should have paid $1 to pass and rub the stache. -TammyTheTrailQueen

    2. Burgers, dogs and organges at the finish were a welcomed touch and taste.

    3. I owe Ray $2 for some cold drink.

    4. I owe Mutha and a guy named Jeremy (who hugged at the finish) big time for some e-Caps...I was in a big world of hurt for about 8 miles.

    5. Don't drink from your race bottle, before the start. Or, if you do, remember to refill it - Doh!

    6. Sue (as the sole representative of the other gender) served as a great counter-balance to house of 7 male trail trompers. Thanks Sue!

    7. Vicky must have arrived too late. Tmail had already rigged the game tables. We need to play again, soon.

    8. Glad to see the g-$$$ express on the trail and at the house. Hopefully you got some good work done while bombing through the brooks.

    9. My two good deeds on the course were to give some guy named John who was keeled over in pain in the pine forest, my last e-caps. WTF was I thinking. I then couldn't get my sorry ass outta there. The other was to haul some slob up into the culvert because he couldn't get up. Only to see him pass me after mile 24.

    10. Coming off Jay, I got chatting with Captain Nate from the Army here in VT...talking about the range, rolling down the road and we're following a handful of Canadians. Shit! The Canadians turned around and headed uphill towards, screaming and pointing. We missed the turnoff. Arrrgghhh!

    11. When limiting yourself to 2mins in a TA, never ask a group of grandmothers if anyone has any NSAIDs. "Rapid Response" is all relative.

    12. There was one portion of the trail about 1/2 mile away from mile 19 before you cross the river, that is 30-40 above the river, straight drop. No shoulder protection and I came bombing around a turn and nearly launched myself. Who the f is in charge of highway signage on those trails?

    13. Comical event #52, Gloria the Garbage Giver tries to sweet talk one Mutha and Maddog into packing out her trash. Stick it in your pants, I tell her. And Mutha suggests another proven method, stick it between the buns of her ass and carry it that way. It was then she knew we couldn't be had. She opted for the famed "cleavage carry". See ya babe!

    14. I betcha Treadmill could have womped some butt out there.

    15. Overall the Wampum boys made a good showing. Ray and Roland rocked the course, I thought.

    16. It was great that we all saw each other through the finish.

    17. On a number of occasions, a lone spectator would be cheering people on in seemingly isolated areas of the course (roads and woods). It was bizarre and pleasant .

    18. I met a Mr. Cranky Pants around mile 31, who did not think my mud jokes were funny. Apparently all his mud humor stopped around mile 12. What an Ahole.

    19. Tmail, what is the french word for love?

    20. At the end of the race, I visited a well-suited, clean, plenty of TP, and overall respectable porta-pottie. It was heaven. At that point in time, it didn't take much (other than being off the course) to make me happy.

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  2. Jay XC route - http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/1217197954-27743-24.91.153.136.html

    Profile - http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/1217198343-29104-P-24.91.153.136.png

    Another important link - http://porno.fluctuat.net/cinema/images/porno-us-harry-reems.jpg

    Let me first state "Holy sh*t you guys are fast!" Great job.

    1) The house was a lucky strike - thanks to Craig Ross and poo to Ray for not listening to my advice about the TrailView Lodge!

    2) The mud was special this year - a cross between butt soup, manure, clay, quik-crete, and pudding

    3) eCaps get so much hype... what about the d and f caps?

    4) RaceReady shorts and Helly top stayed with me the whole time - like a 2nd, REALLY stinky skin

    5) Harry Reems, with a raised eyebrow and moustache, at mile 20 to the couple from Toronto that had yo-yo'd a few times... "Hey, you come here often?"

    6) Talking to your legs actually can cause them to act as you want them to - voodoo style

    7) How many cramps can one person have in a 200yd stretch of beaver slop... by my count, 17

    8) Garbage dropping a-holes suck

    9) A few times solo on the trail, "Where the f is everyone?! Am I lost?!"

    10) I agree with MadDog, it was great that everyone convened at the finish (and that everyone actually finished.)

    11) Thank the Mountain Gods for Sue and Vick to help balance our testosterone fueled conversations, ensure we ate something other than bananas, and help add to the post-race laughs.

    12) I was at one point (mile 25-ish) cursing you guys, and myself, for putting this on the 2008 calendar and thinking this could be the last Jay race for me. However, after the crampy finish, post-race burger and pizza, the beers, the story telling/great conversation, this morning's coffee in the hot tub, squeezing the mud out of my shoes this afternoon, etc, I am ready to sign on for 2009. You just can't stop the sickness...

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  5. Ok here goes, in no order:

    1. Arrival at Frosty's Love was a pleasant surprise...

    2. Sitting in the porta - potty eating a Powerbar and someone opens the door and looks at me and says "HI"

    3. I can't stand the running skirt

    4. Running over gu flasks and being able to identify the flavor

    5. Putting my hand on some guys ass...and pushing him up the rope section...Tip to Guy..."use the rope"

    6. Losing my shoe in the mud and then having someone directly step on it driving it 3 more feet down

    7. MD all of sudden "Mystically" appearing in front of me...never knew he passed me nor said Hi to me...

    8. MD all of a sudden "Mystically" at the finish never said Hi to me as he passed me...trail jerk!!!

    9. Running on some section with a guy from Long Island asking me is the rope section coming up...I said, "Yup in about 3 hours" he proceeded to slowly pull up and walk

    10. Being in the river falling...total submerged...standing then falling immediatly again totally submerged

    11. Asking the 45 year Canadian chick for bag number 218 at Drop Bag location 1 after she repeadly asked me what number I said "Fuck it and left"

    12. Isolation

    13. I never knew what mile I was at at any point in the race

    14. Feeling like I was dead...Feeling like I was alive...Feeling like I was in limbo...having a softball size cramp in my left hammy...

    15. Picking up a fuel belt flask drinking the liquid then putting it back on the ground

    16. 8 E-Caps in 2 minutes

    17. Seeing someone disappear for 10 seconds in the beaver swamp...

    18. American shorts guy...

    19. The dirt road is equivalent to the rail bed on the Wilderness Trail...

    20. What is Rick and Pat's nickname going to be? Idea's for Rick = Texas Rick, Bandana Rick, Sensata Rick...Idea's for Pat...Irish Pat...Race Series Pat

    21. Peeing while running its getting catchy!!!

    22. Peeing into my shoe in hopes it would dislodge a rock in my sock...it didn't work...if i bent over I would have cramped...

    22. What a great group of people thanks for the memories and laughs...

    23. Mutha = Disqualified

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  6. Rick's nickname - Lone Star

    Pat's nickname - Shillelagh

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