who let the cows out?

Runners who have never helped organize a race miss out on the excitement of battling the unexpected, for Murphy's Law also applies to races. Overcoming problems so that runners can enjoy the race is often challenging, frequently exhilarating, and ultimately rewarding. And there always are unanticipated events.

One September at the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club (MHRRC) Dutchess County Classic Marathon in Poughkeepsie, New York, the runners encountered cows crossing the road; neither the runners nor the race organizers had expected an obstacle course. Another year the runners had to hurdle fire hoses stretched across the road from the town hall to a nearby pond, for the volunteer fire department had decided to practice that day.

Sometimes the problems are not so humorous. Former Classic Race Director Charlie Sprauer said that one year a speeding car refused to slow down at a water stop. In frustration, a volunteer threw water onto the car's windshield. That action started a chain of events. The driver stopped and started to fight with the volunteer; a passing bike volunteer rode up and joined in the fracas; a few runners became involved, thus participating in a duathlon; finally the police appeared. Eventually Charlie was able to persuade the parties involved to drop all charges.

Lori Christina, the outgoing president of the Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club of Albany, New York, said she does not endorse, but understands, the volunteer's response. Once, while directing traffic at the Saratoga Lakes [NY] Body and Soul Triathlon, she became so angry when a car would not stop that she sat on the hood of the car. Kids, don't try this at home. Remember, Lori is a professional¾she hails from New York City. Enough said.

Lori's most embarrassing moment as race director was when she wrecked not one but two rental trucks after the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon. A volunteer had returned a truck to the rental agency, but had left flags and cones inside the truck. The next day Lori picked up the vehicle and made a sharp left turn out of the lot¾a very sharp left turn. Crunch! She had hit another rental truck on the lot. Addendum: The race lost money that year.

If problems occur at an established race, imagine the problems that can occur at an inaugural run. Bob Tutt of the Onteora Runners' Club, an RRCA club, attended the first Asparagus Run in upstate New York. That year, the neophyte volunteers recorded the times of only the first three finishers because, as one of the organizers was overheard to say, "We only have three stop watches!"

Problems are not limited to smaller races. I asked Don Kardong (1976 Olympic marathoner, writer, lecturer, and former RRCA president) about the Spokane [WA] Bloomsday Race. With 50,000-60,000 entrants, there should be many opportunities for unforeseen events.

"I think the most unexpected thing that managed to delay the start of the race for the only time in our history, was the wheelchair racer who flipped his chair over an embankment. The wheelchair athletes start 15 minutes before the crowd, and as this guy headed down the first downhill at full tilt, his wheel caught the curb, which basically flung him and his chair down the embankment. The ambulances that went to get him blocked the roadway, so we had to put a 15-minute pause on the adrenaline rush of 50,000 runners. It was very, very weird to be standing there while they retrieved the guy and got the road open again. By the way, he was fine."

Many problems are minor. Mark French directs the early-September Old Chatham 5K, the RRCA New York State 5K Championship race. "After this year's race," recounts French, "I received a note from a walker who said the drummers on the course slowed down their beat when the walkers got to that part of the course. The walkers told the drummers they were disappointed that the beat had slowed and asked for it to get picked up. The drummers responded by picking up the pace. The walkers referred to the experience as 'pace discrimination'."

John Farrow, 1998 RRCA Club Writer of the Year, related the following anecdote. "Last year was my first as a member of the board of directors of our Duke City Marathon in Albuquerque [NM]. That year, we were fortunate to have Kenyan Catherine Ndereba and several of her well-known countrymen registered in either the marathon or the half-marathon. These were by far the best-known foreign runners in our race ever. However, none of them made it to the starting line.

"After the race started, the coordinator of elite runners found them sitting on a curb less than a block from the starting line. They had been waiting for someone to personally escort them to the start. He wasn't aware that they were expecting such treatment. This year, we assigned a volunteer for each elite to make certain he or she got to the start."

Trail races as well as road races face the unexpected. One year at the mid-October MHRRC Billy Goat 5K Trail Run, race directors Wayne McDaniel and Nick Lamando had a live billy goat to provide atmosphere. Before the race started, the goat broke free and headed for the starting line. Although not seeded, the goat probably wanted to get a good starting position. Attempting to capture the goat gave runners an unusual pre-race warm-up. I was glad the race was not the Mountain Lion Trail Run.

Perhaps there is an epidemic of goat problems at trail races? Nancy Hobbs, the executive director of the All American Trail Running Association (AATRA), related the following story. "As a race director, you should always be prepared for anything. At the 2000 U.S. Fila Half SkyMarathon, the course director noticed a herd of goats on the course as he was marking the route. After consulting with the U.S. Forest Service, he found that the herd was on a migration pattern and should not be disturbed. During packet pickup the night before the race, we announced our decision to shorten the course by approximately 1 mile so the race would not disturb the goats."

Surely the controlled setting of a track series means there are no problems? Try again. One year at the Friday MHRRC Summer Track Series, it was runners versus football players in a conflict over the use of the track-and-football field. After heated discussions, the football coaches admitted they had booked the field from Monday through Thursday only. However, they wanted to hold football practice on Friday because they had canceled Wednesday's practice due to rain. Hearing this, the race organizers had no sympathy, for, as we well know, runners run in all weather. Don Kardong once wrote about running through the ash fallout of Mount Saint Helens. So what was a little torrential downpour?

Problems can surface even after a race is over. At the October 1999 MHRRC Schlathaus Park 5K Run, the race started and finished with no problems. As the volunteers were cleaning up, a bus pulled into the farmer's market across the road. Off the bus stepped a college track team from Brooklyn. The coach had seen the MHRRC race posted on the RRCA web site and had decided to bring the team upstate. Unfortunately, the bus driver had chosen the wrong exit off the New York State Thruway, resulting in their taking the "scenic route" to the race. What to do? Race director Linda Stow polled her volunteers. All decided to stay and re-stage the race for the track team. Thus the MHRRC had two Schlathaus Park 5K runs that year.

Not all snafus occur on race day. Dutchess County Classic director Pat DeHaven used a vacation day from work to distribute race flyers at several businesses. While passing the Town of Rosendale Recreation Center, he decided on the spur of the moment to leave flyers there. He parked his car in the nearly deserted parking lot and went inside the recreation center but could not find anyone in charge. Pat left the building just in time to see a sport utility vehicle rapidly back out of a parking space and slam into his car. With his visibility blocked by the antique bed posts he was hauling, the driver had thought the lot was empty. To add insult to auto injury, Pat never even left any race flyers!

Here is one last personal example to prove race misfortunes can come swiftly and unexpectedly. In 1999, I was delivering flyers to the houses and apartments along the Dutchess County Classic course to inform people about race-day traffic conditions. As I was about to place a flyer under a doormat, the door opened, and a woman came out with two dogs on leashes. As I backed up, she said, "Don't worry, my dog doesn't bite." I handed her a flyer. In that split second, I realized my error in judgment. Instantly one dog leapt and sank its fangs into the underside of my upper left arm. As I stared in disbelief at the blood¾my blood!¾she said the inevitable: "That's not my dog!" It was her roommate's dog.

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Bob Kopac's articles have appeared in numerous running magazines. He received the 1997 RRCA Outstanding Club Writer of the Year Award. Bob is currently the president of the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club. Many of his articles can be found at Kopac's Korner at the MHRRC Web site (http://www.mhrrc.org).