First there was the Fog of War, a term used to describe the uncertainty of warfare.
Then, at the Cabot Trail Relay 2004, the Wissahickon Wanderers coined a new expression....the
Fog of Running.
With the customary erratic Cape Breton weather conditions, the now standard Wanderer
double dealing over leg assignments, the usual dodgy team race support, and the
now commonplace chaos which surrounds every Wanderer relay effort, it was a little
hard to figure out exactly what happened out on the Cabot Trail. But Wanderers
were surprised to read in the papers after the event that the team had in fact
done quite well, finishing a very respectable 42nd out of 65 teams.
The Wanderers completed the 185-mile course in an elapsed time of 25
hours.
The fact that Wanderers had to endure all forms of precipitation during the race,
from a fog, to a fine mist, to a steady rain, to a lashing, wind-whipped downpour
made the term Fog of Running even more applicable. All the elements were confronted
during the race with the exception of sunlight and heat.
There were lots of heroes at the Cabot Trail Relay, but special commendation
has to go out to the Wanderers’ Main Man in Nova Scotia, Phil Roach. With
legs already compromised by a mighty effort in the Halifax marathon the week
before, Phil somehow tapped into reserves of strength to slay Mt. Smokey in Leg
4. He knocked off Smokey at a 8:50-a-mile pace finishing in 1:51:25.
Phil finished off his day with a little child care for his 15-month-old twins
while his wife Patti MacKinnon took over on the 12.3-kilometer
leg #8. In her first
race back since the arrival of the twins, Patti ran a rock solid 1:12:20.
The Purple Piper then took the baton for the brutal Leg 9 up
and down North Mountain.
His performance can be summed up in one word... magnificent.
Special commendation also goes out to Susan Hurrey. She
was the victim of the usual Wanderer bait and switch tactics, but still performed
admirably.
Originally promised a lovely afternoon leg along the scenic Cape Breton coast,
she was in actuality assigned the lengthy and overnight Leg 14. She performed
heroically padding steadily through rain and darkness and then even passing
runners in the final stages as the morning dawned over the Margaree Valley
to finish 36th in 1:45:35.
The scouting report on the Wanderers used to be that
our runners at the end of any race, if they were still functioning, were
easy pickings. Well, no longer.
Petra Kretschmann demonstrated the new get-tough policy for the Wanderers by
fighting off her Band on the Run competitor with elbows out at the end of leg
#3. Susan Hurrey and Snake Bite also passed numerous runners in the final stages
of their legs.
The Purple Piper
heading up North Mountain.
Space Ghost had to first receive censure from support staff in
the Technovan for a little too much fraternization with competitors, but then
responded by
passing several runners on Legs #2 and #16.
Other highlights were Peter McLaughlin who was on fire on
Leg 13 finishing 14th in a time of 1:13:41 over the 13.4-kilometer course. Andrew
MacIsaac was just
as impressive running the arduous Leg 6 in 1:21:52 to finish 22nd. Duncan
Macguigan further established the Wanderer’s Scottish bona
fides at the Cabot Trail and produced a solid performance on Leg #7 and lots
of support for the other
runners.
Glenn Campbell was formidable in his scamper up Mt. MacKenzie.
Rhinestone just
never let up his steady pace despite the steep grade and deteriorating weather
conditions. Bythe time Cheryl Smith took over from Rhinestone
the Perfect Storm had settled in on Cape Breton. Winds picked up and the precipitation
turned
into a downpour driving into the faces of the runners. Having lived on Cape Breton for several years, Cheryl
didn’t flinch on Leg #12 and produced a marvelous 1:10:40 performance over
the 14-kilometer course and in the process disposing of her husband Troy
Smith of the Highland Hopefuls by more than two minutes.
Veteran Martin Paquet drove
down three hours from New Brunswick just in time to get absolutely soaked on
Leg #12. When asked whether he had ever run in such
adverse conditions, Martin responded quickly and decisively, “Never!” (He
later amended his answer to stay that in fact there had been a tougher race in
Quebec when his two partners suffered hypothermia and he almost experienced frostbite).
Rock Steady took a further buffeting on Leg #13 but survived.
No Cabot Trail report
would be complete without the following commendations:
