Daryl Watkins, a teacher at Broadway and owner of an ice cream stand in New Market, organized The New Market (Virginia) Firecracker 5 Miler yesterday. Butch has run that race every year and pronounced it his favorite. Now I know why.
Race packets for pre-registered runners were arranged alphabetically on a table; runners were entrusted with the task of selecting their own. No volunteer needed to ask repeatedly for a runner's name, or the spelling of that name, and then attempting to find it.
The course itself was marked with easily identified squares painted on the asphalt roads with three-color logos on them, and arrows showing which direction to go. Officers stopped traffic efficiently, letting runners actually race (At one race last winter, the officers stopped the runners and let the traffic go through).
And the course itself wound through historic downtown and then, at mile 3, challenged runners as they climbed a hill 9/10 of a mile long through a canopy of trees. But there were just as many downhills as ups...a truly rolling race course.
The runners, too, were unusually polite, and minded well the etiquette of a race. At water stops they grabbed their water and kept moving, or at least they ran to the end of the table before stopping at the shoulder out of the way of other runners. Too often water gulpers grab their water and stop -- blocking other runners awaiting a quick grab-and-go drink.
This group also ran single file except to pass. Climbing that hill I could see a line of runners ahead of me, mostly single file, occasionally double, except to pass another runner. I remembered another race where pods ran together filling the entire roadway, blocking anyone from passing. I wish I'd worn my track shoes as I spent most of that race on the gravel shoulder trying to maneuver around the yakking pods.
Efficiency. Well-marked course. Gorgeous scenery. A challenging hill. Running single file -- sometimes double -- except to pass. Respectful runners mindful of the fact that others shared the road.
