Social Scenes

Please read to the end for a request for runners for a team race. (Or just skip past the photos and read from that point on.)

I cannot tell if we will get away with another too perfect fall day or if the chance of rain will materialize, but either way, I encourage you rare or never go out after TRY to join in for a planned social night. The regular socialites go out almost every week but several others (including me) rarely join in. It's been a while since we've done a "let's all go out night"...so it's time. And if you want my wife and kids to go in, then we can do Whitewater Pub or The Barking Gull as somehow those pass the "not a bar" test that The Cobblestone fails. Plan on some extra time and grabbing a bite and getting to know your fellow running club members!

For the run - pick your partners on the fly - just like we've been doing all year.

Thanks for your feedback on how to make a local run stand out. The best (most usable) idea I received was to give running socks out instead of a shirt. (With a thought of providing the option, it seems like a lot of runners would love the idea. The downside is that it does not allow for sponsors to be advertised on the back of the shirt. But really, has a sponsor on a shirt ever caused anyone to seek them out?)

In my never ceasing quest to provide you all with details on the trends in the running community, I attended the "Insane Inflatable 5k" on Saturday morning. It was at the Fairgrounds - but now how I expected. They took over the upper lot and made what may be the worst 5k course ever: it just took a serpentine path through the whole parking lot. Around the outside and back up the middle and back again down the middle and finishing along the other side, just cones marking some semblance of a path that might have actually added up to 3 miles? Every so often a usually giant blown up monstrosity would await you. Slides, bouncers, climbers, huge blue balls as tall as a person, and all sorts of things I did not even know were possible just by forcing air through them. Did it look like fun? Yes. Did I want to do a few of the obstacles? Yes. Would it be worth the $50 or more dollars to do them? I think that is where the "insane" part of the name came in. It's definitely not meant to be for runners. It's meant for the kid inside of you. Run, if you want, but mostly people walk, with their silly costumes and team themes. Young, old, in shape and out of shape. A lot of people were going through it on Saturday and they were announcing that it was set up for Sunday as well. It proved again that social "gimmick" runs are all the rage.

My little sister and her team had a good time. I did hear from them (and random comments) that there were some rug burn type hazards from all the sliding on plastic/canvas. So, if you do an inflatable run - be sure to protect those parts you care about from the burn.

Here are photos from the two obstacles that most caught my eye.

An awesomely big bounce house - 6 or 8 feet of air underneath you:


And the final slide - I'm guessing about 30 feet high with a 20 foot slide then a jump down and you bounce down the last part on your feet.


You got a shirt, you got a medal (for some reason I cannot explain) and you got burns on your butt, back and elbows. What's not to love?

To end on - an appeal for a different type of social race. The Adirondack Ragnar race was this past weekend and I sought out reports from two different first time participants (on different teams). One report was very short and along the lines of "It was awesome", while the other was more detailed but came down to the same conclusion of being "so much fun" and "would definitely do it again".

So, despite repeated failures to get a team race together, I am going to aim for another one, but aiming a little lower this time. Who wants to do the "Seneca 7" next spring?

What is it, you ask? It's a 77.7 mile race that gives 7 runners total 13 hours to finish running around one of the finger lakes. I assume it's Cayuga lake but am not sure?

The race is on Sunday, April 19th, starting at 7 in the morning. Each teammate runs 3 legs and you end up with a total distance of 10ish to 12ish miles. Each leg is roughly 4 miles in length from a quick glance. As a team you have to maintain slightly slower than a 10 minute mile pace to finish in time.

There is a lot of details that would matter eventually but it's overkill at this point, the least you need to know is that registration is on October 31st and it's a good bet it sells out that weekend. So, we would need 7 teammates at that point willing to pay about $75 each to register. (You can trade out runners later, so there are ways to get in a spare or two if something goes wrong.)

Who is seriously interested? Who is possibly interested? It would be great to have a team from TRY do this. (Even if I'm not involved - It seems like a unique way to celebrate the bond of a running group and to work together for a shared goal.)

That was a joke about which lake, by the way - it's around Seneca Lake and is supposed to be very scenic.

Here is the website with all the dirty details. (I fully admit that other TRYers know a lot more about this race than I do...but since I'm writing the blog I did the best I could getting the key points out there.)

FYI, I'm not considering the "bike team" option, but I guess there are enough bikers (triers) in the group, that you could pull that off? In which case I would not be involved, but I would be that much more impressed by your efforts!