Day 14 Saturday 4th July.
Independence day is always a rest day from marking. There is a 10km fun run in the morning if you are so inclined. After coughing up half a lung for 2 days after last years 10km I abstained this year and went along to watch instead. It was won this year by Nick Coury who finished 5th at Hardrock last year and will pace his brother Jamil this year after missing out in the lottery.
July 4th has to be seen to be believed in Silverton. The regular population of around 500 swells to over 25,000! Being one not totally enamoured with crowds it does get a bit overwhelming. Part of Hardrock tradition includes being part of the parade. This involves 'marching' behind the Hardrock finishers banner, waving Hardrock flags and throwing 'candy' to the millions of kids that line the streets. I use the term 'marching' loosely. In fact we 'run' short intervals, including simulated switchbacks in and out of the other floats, as we make total idiots of ourselves. If people didn't think we were crazy for running Hardrock before the parade, they had no doubt after it.
That evening many runners gathered outside Charlie's house to watch the fireworks. Now I'm not a big fan of fireworks but the 1/2 hour display was pretty impressive, being widely renowned and the main draw card for the huge crowd. The natural amphitheatre created by the surrounding mountains amplifies and echoes the effects. The explosions were so loud my ears hurt and car alarms were going off with the reverberations.
And if that show didn't entertain you, the view from my motel balcony afterwards showed most of the 25,000 trying to leave town by the one and only exit road. Headlights were nearly motionless all the way up the nearby mountain pass for hours.
Much needed rest day, despite all the fuss.
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Ultrarunner fighting Atrial Fibrilation (AF)
This blog has pretty much always been about running ultras, mostly Hardrock. It still is but now it is also about running after AFib. I was forced to miss Hardrock in 2011 due to the onset of AF but my long term goal was to get back to running milers. And hopefully help any other runners with AF who stumble upon this site. I never made it into Hardrock in 2012, or 2013, or 2014. I didn't have a qualifier for 2015. I ran Fatdog in Canada instead. That was tough. I finished my 4th Hardrock in 2016 and now I'm back to try for the magical number 5.
If you want the history of my AF the heart problems all started back on May 25 2011: http://howmanysleeps.blogspot.com/2011/05/out-of-hardrock.html
1 comment:
It all sound so cool one day maybe.
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