November 30, 2019 ................................................................................... RESULTS

My fourth time running Delirium proved to be equally as enjoyable as the first three. Each time RD Tim Waz has entertained us with a new course at a new venue. This year's edition was staged on a perfectly level, mostly grassy mile-and-a-half loop at the edge of the lovely Habersham community, with no traffic, no roots, no rocks, and not even a wrinkle - a perfect course to close your eyes and glide as fast as you can for as long as you signed up to run. For me, that was six hours. Long enough at this stage of the game.

It is always good to find Tim's smile waiting for you at packet pickup, but I was equally pleased to reconnect with long-time friends Kris Cargile and Joyce Ong. Annie joined me this time to cheer me on as I looped around each time. A sunny day with some clouds, the temps felt like it topped 70 degrees - very pleasant running conditions.

At 0900 about a hundred of us headed out on our first loop. I had no expectations, having not run much in the past two months, resting an injured foot. I was aiming for thirty miles in 6 hours, but anything close would be okay. My tempo was a bit more upbeat than I usually run in training, but I was not laboring or sore, so I carried through the first 6 miles in 1 hour and hit 12 miles in 2 hours, largely because these first rounds were more social; good conversation kept me distracted from the task at hand while my legs just kept up old habits.

I took a couple loops with a Marine First Sergeant from Cherry Point, Jerry, then a couple loops with Walter Handloser from San Obispo, California, who would finish his 46th of 51 one hundred mile races in 2019 to establish a new record, and finally a couple loops with my buddy Kris Cargile to finish. Until I took a break at about fifteen miles to resupply with gels and aminos I kept my head down and actually raced; after that I backed off my tempo, stopped or walked some to talk, and sat down for five minutes with Ann. I kicked back to enjoy the back half of the event and because my untrained legs were getting increasingly sore. At the end I ran 18 loops for 27.4 miles. Not my finest performance, but then I am no longer young or speedy. I've gotten used to getting lapped lots of times by younger, more fleet of feet athletes. I just don't have the body nor the moxie to seriously compete anymore, and the rewards of just being a participant are quickly diminishing.

It was an enjoyable day, and a fitting way to begin a week's vacation at Hilton Head with Ann, It is still good to toe the line, but it is becoming increasingly appealing to just kick back and watch the world run by.