I hate running in groups, and I am always crabby at the start of a race.  So, you can see why I was so disappointed to hear that the annual Freezer Burn 10 mile race was cancelled this year.  The race director forgot to apply for a permit to cross the railroad tracks.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to plan a race route over a railroad track, but whatever.  The race was cancelled about a week & a half before it was supposed to take place.  When I found out, I was at work, and I felt so downtrodden that I became pretty unproductive.  It's silly, I know, but I felt like a kid who had just learned that there is no Santa Claus.

So, I did what any rational person who hates group runs would do: I organized an impromptu group run of the same distance, date, and at a similar location as the Freezer Burn Race.  I called it Freezer Bummed.  

The run started this morning when it was 27 F, wind at 17 MPH, and raining steadily.  I've been fighting off some sort of illness all week, so of course I was queasy & had some gunk in my throat.  About 35 people showed up despite the weather.  This was a good thing, because if no one showed up, I probably would have went home.

We started right on time, because I'm uptight about things like that.  Most races seem to start at least 10 minutes late. 

I spent the first 3 miles whining inside my head about the cold, the rain, my stomach, and anything else I could think of to whine about.  After about 3 miles, I finally settled into the run and realized that it was actually a very nice day to go for a run.

At mile 5 was the aid station.  This was the best aid station in the history of the universe because in addition to the usual hydrating, sugary, salty fare, there were kisses.  But only for me.  My SO & a friend hiked in the rain to set up an aid station & shelter.  (That's my darling in the blue jacket, and our pooch Bonny nearby.)  Hauling the water jugs in by hand alone was an awesome feat!  There wasn't much time for me to stick around--I was soaking wet & freezing.  Gotta keep moving.

I turned around & headed back down the trail.  By now, the puddles were getting larger, and there were a few patches of mud that sucked on my shoes hungrily.  Luckily I had my Asics goretex shoes on.  I love them.  My feet were dry & toasty throughout the entire run.

The finish was on a bridge over the Clark Fork River.  I messed up the mapping of the course & put the aid station out about an eighth of a mile farther than it should have been, so the race was actually 10.25 miles.  No biggie.

After finishing, I was completely soaked.  I stood around & socialized, but I quickly began to shiver & knew I needed to start the walk back home.  As the organizer of the "race," I made sure the start & finish line was only 1/3 mile from my front door.  A hot bath & a baked yam with homegrown eggs warmed me again.  What a great day for a "race."

Very cool story. I love it!

All bundled up for winter... is only late fall.  Next up, a thread

devoted to things we whine about while out there.

Good stuff, going out and encouraging others to be out.

Is that the Clark Fork--we have paused a time or two to

run a ways along it.

Thank you.

Careful... they may put you in charge of the "real" run !!!!  Sounds like a great run, and even an aid station.  I reallly like the photo of the double track along the river.

Thanks for the "R"R.

Thanks for the report. Great job re-organizing at the last minute, and 35 participants

is pretty good for a cancelled race. Really gotta hand it to the folks that volunteer for

these races, I've been on both sides of the aid station and I'm grateful for people

that deal with weather so that we can run and stay fueled.

big kudos to you to take the initiative to get something going, especially considering the less than ideal weather!

I was in Missoula over Thanksgiving and ran a loop up Sentinel and down the Hellgate Canyon trail to the Kim Williams trail- about 1/2 mile down the trail I saw a few runners headed my way- no unusual as it gets a lot of runners/bikers/hikers; pretty soon I saw a giant mass of people headed my way (200+)- they were having a Thanksgiving fun run and I was the salmon headed the wrong way!  

  A hot bath & a baked yam with homegrown eggs warmed me again.  What a great day for a "race."

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Gotta Love a girl who takes an active role in her Food Chain. 

Do you ever run into TreeHugger out there?  (I assume everyone in Montana knows everyone else)