The Little Caboose that Could

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Monongalia County, there was a half marathon. It started 13 point whatever miles up the Decker's Creek Rail Trail in the next county north. (When I say "up," I mean up-- there's a 4% grade down from Preston county to Monongalia county.) The trail was very beautiful, winding through trees, mountain ridges, and past the river/creek, so when Sheila decided to run this race, it seemed like a good idea. She'd done a full marathon, so a half marathon wouldn't be so hard, would it?

So Sheila trained. And trained. And trained some more. She even practiced running on the actual course-- something she did NOT do when she ran the Top of Utah marathon in 2005. June arrived and she thought she was ready.

Sheila forgot about the heat factor. June 1st was a little rainy and overcast. June 2nd was a little rainy. June 3-5 were still comfortable. June 6th the heatwave hit. The race started at 9 AM on June 7th. Sheila hates running in heat, but it was too late to back out now. So she started.

Look at all the runners-- all but one-- pass Sheila on the trail during the first mile. Good thing Judy promised to meet Sheila after the race (she finished an hour earlier than Sheila did). The only runner in sight after mile two was Maurice, age 70 something. He dropped out because of the heat after mile 3. Sheila thought he was very wise, but she kept going.

Three hours later, everyone else had finished. Sheila finally passed the mile 10 water stop. Sheila had been walking a lot, a combination of heat and her left hip saying, "Okay, we're done now!" But only three miles to go. She could walk it. Sheila's friends who had come to watch and cheer her on had already gone home, figuring she passed in the crowd of other runners and that they had missed her.

The EMT guys in their ATV kept rumbling up to make sure Sheila wasn't dehydrated. Sheila waved them off. "I'm fine, just slow!" How could the last few miles, the part Sheila trained most on, seem so much longer? The nice people at Southern States (selling farm equipment) had trained a sprayer shower hose over the trail for runners to cool down. A nice owner at the trailer park near the final mile had set out a hose and said, "Help yourself to water." Judy and her husband walked back up the trail to make sure Sheila was still coming. They walked back across the finish line with her.

No winner in her age group, no sirree. But guess what? There was a caboose award! Yes!! Sheila got her first prize EVER in a race, and she got it for coming in dead last. After drinking more water, eating some pizza, and a few days of not being able to move up and down stairs, Sheila decided any race over 10K is too long for her. That decision made, she will now live happily ever after.