FALL FLIRT IN THE DIRT
As advertised, the Flirt in the Dirt followed the Bradshaw Road outside of Clermont. Way outside. This lonely 10 mile (ish) dirt road rises and falls along the outer wilderness of Lake County. The course is beautiful in a barren, former-Orange-grove-stalled-development sort of way and offers gorgeous views of the surrounding hills and any number of crit
ters: coyotes, deer, and the dreaded "Feral Gifford." This version of the Flirt sported an air of legitimacy with race numbers and a sporty race drink provided by the ubiquitous Hector Clemente, dubbed "Hector's Nectar." Indeed.Twenty or so YMCARunners ran the dirt and rolling hills with (surprise) Mike Easterling leading the way, fresh off his recent victory at the Florida Special Olympics Triathlon. His Honorableness Alan Lawson would have come in second, but alas, Judge Lawson's brilliance on the bench does not extend to navigational know-how. Alan missed the proper exit and was halfway to Ocala before he realized his non-appealable error.
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For race photo album, CLICK HERE.
X-COUNTRY MARATHON / HALF MARATHON / 5K
Teresa Calio led the women, or at least most of them (Dame Hulya and Entourage had an exclusive engagement). Paul Duckett was kind enough to loop back and lend a hand to a few of the women at the rear, lest they encounter the Feral Gifford. This was a wasted effort because the Feral Gifford was elsewhere convincing Mylene's son to eat a piece of muffin found on the ground (the Gifford is known for enticing the very young and very old into any number of senseless
acts).On Sunday, a tiny coterie of YMCARunners travelled to Alafia River State Park near Plant City for the X-Country trail running series consisting of a marathon, half marathon and 5k. The website described the course as something akin to an idyllic stroll among fields and wide forest paths. What we found instead was something like the 80's video game "Pitfall." Yes, there were plenty of fields alright, but there were plenty of twisty, narrow-rooted paths and knee deep sugar sand as well. The area was beautiful, not that anyone noticed while leaping over boiling tar pits and fording rivers of powdery sand for the last mile before the finish. The race was summed up perfectly by Adam Gifford: "I felt pretty good until I threw up at mile 22."
If not for the excellent post-race campground breakfast provided by Danielle Heath and Liz Calio, this country excursion would have been most unpleasant. Two notable exceptions were David Dix, who bounced around the half marathon course like a winning lotto ball to finish second in his age group (11th overall), and Danielle, who was the 5k Masters Champion. Kurt Brewer, who b**ched endlessly about the half marathon terrain and his sundry "itises" managed to finish 3rd in his age group, and Teresa Calio won her age group in the half.
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