Rocks, Blood and Bears. Or why I have no reason to complain about running on flat ground ever again.

Another year of road racing begins again and as I reach a milestone of sorts come September (my tenth year of doing 5k's) there have been many highlights over those years. But none like what happened to me on one cold saturday morning in March. Usually I like to kick off my racing year with a 5k run in Johnson Park in Piscataway with the H.I.P.H.O.P run that is usually the first or second weekend in April. (I don't remember what the letter stand for but I know it deals with a hospital.) Well this year a race appeared on my radar at the end of March that was titled the Rock Run. The location of the race was at Chimney Rock state park which is not to far from me so I figured, well this should be interesting. From the descriptions on various websites all that was told was a five mile run in the park with a time for refreshments at the Chimney Rock Inn. Looking back now this may all have been a finely woven trap to get people to run the race.

The morning of the race was a nice twenty-eight degree day in the sun. In the shade, the temp's must have been below twenty-five and the slight breeze did not help anything. With any new run I like to look at the surrounding area and see the landscape and try to figure out where I may be going. The registration sight was a pristine park, with baseball fields and benches. All in all a serene place to run. But that is where the race started, and that pristine tranquil sight gave way to the Chimney Rock Park. Before the start of the race the organizers guided us with some instructions on various parts of the course. The first part consisted of running down a path to a road and then making a right into the park. So far so good. Then came the instructions to slow down and cross a shallow stream, but no worries carefully placed cinder blocks are in the water so that your feet do not have to get wet. At that moment my internal alarm meter started to rise. The next set of instructions included making your way through the path that traveled alongside the river to the damn area of the park. Sounds easy but the course guides gave the runners a bit of advice that was highly needed. When running along the river part use your left hand to hold onto trees and your right hand for balance, also be-careful of the rocks, roots and stumps that can at any moment give way and send you either down onto rocks or into the river. The alarm meter rose higher. The final instruction was follow the signs and have fun. With a deep breath and a loud shout of go I was off.

The first part of the race before the stream was easy, then came the stream and then the path along the river and I knew that this run was going to either wound me or kill me. I made it through the river part without falling in or breaking my legs on the rock, in fact I climbed the steep hill to the observation deck on top of the hill and wound my way through the muddy paths at the top of the hill. But as the race continued the fragile signs that pointed the way started to fall off their trees and leave many of the racers confused and unsure of where to go. Every step of the course consisted of either rock, mud or leaves. At time the course would have lyrics written on paper and posted to trees from songs that dealt with rocks. I even passed a random stegosaurus hanging out in some bushes. With these peculiarities I could not help but think that this was no race that I was trying to run but possibly a circle of hell for runners. After the first loop of the race I was sent back into rocky shore line of the river. I couldn't believe that I had to run this piece of land again, and if I didn't fall or trip the first time, certainly the second time I was a dead man. But I made it through the river part and scampered my way back of the steep hill. At the top of the hill I was directed into the path for those on their second time through and it was there that the race changed for me.

After climbing my way up a short hill I took a step on what I thought was just some leaves on the ground. But underneath those leaves was a rock so unforgiving that my body couldn't help but fall over in a heap onto other rocks in a devious form of affection. I went down and I went down hard. My hip was a recipient of a nice pointy rock, my knees each getting a rock to slam into. With my body still trying to run a race I sprang up from my fall and took a step that sent a message from my hips to my head that basically said STOP!!! I tried to keep going but my legs were having nothing of it. I looked at my stop watch and it said I had been going for over thirty minutes. Usually for 5 miles on flat ground I do under 36 minutes. After my gracious fall I decided it was time to go back and call it a day. I limped through the woods, stopping occasionally to look down and see blood pouring down from my knees and to my shoes. I found the perfect walking stick and hiked my way out, each step shooting pain throughout my body. One of the race organizers saw me and thought I was some sort of mystic coming out of the woods or even a shaman. No just the guy who fell during the race. I made it to the finish line, not having done the whole race and trying to figure out if I had broken anything.

After trying to get warm and assuring those who put the race together that I was ok, I was told that even though I didn't finish the race I still won an award. Usually there are age group awards during road races so maybe I got something there but I really didn't finish the race. I went to the Chimney Rock Inn and during the award ceremony there were awards given out for those who finished first,second and so on but then there were awards for random course trivia. Like identifying what dinosaur was hanging out on the course. My award on the other hand dealt with the injury's that I sustained while running the race. That award was Most Likely To Be Eaten By A Bear. Yes, I was most likely to be eaten by a bear. In all of the races that I have run I've received awards for finishing in first place in my age group and being first overall in a race but this award shows that no matter how you run a race. Run so that you win the prize, no matter what it is. Often I think that if I don't win first place then I've waisted my time in running and that usually leads to not wanting to run. But that's not what the race is about, in the race of life were not meant to just start the race but were also meant to finish the race. There is an award waiting for all of us at the end what that award is depends on the race that you run.