For the past four years a minor inconvenience has prevented me from participating in a foothills tradition — the Big Rock Runners Sheep River Road Race on Labour Day.
That minor inconvenience is my job.
I’ve only ran it once since I started at the Wheel, but this year, I plan to run it.
My running with the road race has been intermittent since the early 1980s.
I may be totally out to lunch, but I believe the first time I ran it, I was running on a dirt road near a farmer’s field in what is now the Westmount area.
The next time I ran it wasn’t until about the early 1990s, the glory days of my lacklustre running career.
I was able to crack the 40-minute mark for the 10km in those days. Sadly, those days are just like my Walkman, long gone. I can’t figure out how to register for the race online in 40 minutes, let alone run the darn thing.
But no one cares about running times, except for aging sports reporters who are trying to hang on to their days from yesterday.
One of my fondest memories of the road race was in 2003 having to run up the Okotoks Junior High School hill, and I was able to pass the slightly older guy than me .
I recall, thinking: “I hope I am still going when I am his age.”
About five years later, this older guy, Big Rock Runner Richard Ellum, was leaving me in the dust while running up the hill to Holy Trinity Academy.
So this year, I will be at the starting line of the road race for either the 5 km or 10 km race. Work and too many Big Macs may force me to do the shorter run.
Come out and join the runners. The 9 a.m. start at Foothills Composite High School means it will give you plenty of time to go watch the Stamps destroy the Eskies.
As well, the $35 fee – $40 late fee – is practically free compared to other runs. And let’s face it, the Big Rock Runners have the coolest shirts going. To register go to www.bigrockrunners.com
If work gets in the way, do what I plan to do. Get the new guy to do it.
