From: Layne Wallace (lwallace@unf.edu)
Subject: Backadapack Report: 25th Okefenokee Swamp Run
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 19:18:14 -0500 (EST)

Event Name: 25th Okefenokee Swamp Run
Date: March 30, 2002
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Distance: 10K
Location: Laura S. Walker State Park, Georgia, USA
Host: Okefenokee Track Club
Benefit: ???
Course Layout: Convoluted, perverse, mutated out-and-back - sort of
Course Terrain: rolling swells of asphalt, half sun/shade
Weather Conditions: 78F/25.6C, no wind, seemed humid (fog at the start)
Sociological (Fashion, fighting, foolery, and food): 
   Fashion: Great t-shirts (running gators)! No one ran in them, though. This
was the most antifashion event I've seen. No coordinated attire. One guy was
wearing a gray sock and a black sock. The only first-event person (that I
heard of) was wearing sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt - she was hurting
big time by the end.
   Fighting: None.
   Foolery: All verbal among people who have obviously been running together
for years.
   Food (thanks for the idea, Roger): prerace bananas and water; postrace hot
dogs, slaw, beans, sodas, ... - a true picnic and open to runners' guests,
too. All for $10US.
Personal Time: 62:20 (My time was slightly better than my last 10K but my
effort was not as good so I'll not label this as a PB - it's gotta be the
whole package.)
Personal Pace: 10:03
Personal Place Overall (males): Unknown but probably dead last
Personal Place Age Group (males): See above
# of participants completing the course: 102
Winning Time: :-) Yeah, right. Like I was there.
Last Finisher: ~80:XX
Results URL: I'm not sure that there is one.
Comments: 
   There was no reason for us to run this event except it was something new
and 1.5 hours from home (plus the event name). We knew absolutely nothing
about the course (whether it was road or trail), the terrain, or the people
(we didn't know anyone else running the event). It was great.

It was obvious from the beginning that this was a local event (although,
there were others from out of town but they'd done past Swamp Runs) but the
people were very nice. We had mailed in our fees and registration (which
showed we were outlanders since the locals all payed at the event) and they'd
misplaced them. The woman handling the registration told us not to worry about it
since they'd turn up later and to have a good time. We offered to see if the
check had cleared and get back with her but she was sure that it would all
work out. Most of the people were talking with others about local issues
(school sports, politics, etc.) but several made an effort to come talk to
us. No one asked about our expected times so I guess that either they didn't
care or it was pretty obvious - I lean toward the former.

A little before 9:00, everyone started to mosey (yes, we did) up to the Start
line. The RD tried to explain the route and, after running it, I understand
why it was so hard to describe. However, the route was well marked and we had
LOTS of people to follow. "Ya'll ready? Set. Go!" After starting the race,
the RD joined the front runners (rightfully so, as his finishing time was
very good). There was no shuffling, no walking, just immediate running.

We started off too fast (where have I heard that before?) and the splits
below are bizarre. The first and last miles were in the State Park while the
rest were on the county road outside the Park. We started near the back and
were soon passed by just about everyone. The people camping in the Park
seemed to be amused as were the Park Rangers. I'm glad that we could bring a
little mirth into an otherwise mundane Saturday for those folks.

By mile 3, we were starting to pass some of the other runners. The course is
said to be flat but, to Florida people, it wasn't flat. On the inclines, we
passed several who were trying to power up them but having some trouble.
Miles 4 and 5 were out in the sun and were tough. There was auto traffic on
the roads and we got caught behind pickup trucks on a couple of occasions. 

Mile 6 took us past the Finish (Finnish?) line for one more loop through the
campground. The campers were still amused but applauded and offered helpful
suggestions ("Run faster."). A bit before the Finish line, the nausea made an
unwelcome reappearance after several races without it. 

Advanced apologies to Simon & Garfinkle:
"Hello nausea, my old friend.
I see you've brought Ralph with you, again.
And, the porcelin gods were keeping tabs
To see if I would be working my abs.
While the beets that were planted above my feets-a
Added color within the crusts of my street pizza."

OW! OUCH! OK, OK, I'll stop. Geez, must be a music lover. (Sorry, Rob C. It
was a compulsion.)

We crossed the line and Susan (once again) beat me by a step although our
times were the same (91 out of 102). I walked off Ralph with no embarrassing
incidents. We talked about whether we really wanted hot dogs or not and
decided not. However, after recovering for 20-30 minutes, I was hungry and
had two - first ones I've had in many (!) years - topped off by a Coke and
chocolate cookies. :-)

We waited for the awards ceremony and watched the 1 mile fun run. It was
great. Some of the kids could barely walk but they did the mile in style.
Susan won first in her age group and got a very nice engraved winged foot
statue. This was a wonderful event and I look forward to running it next
year. The only disappointment was that there were no gators on the route.

Splits
Mile	Time	MHR	AHR
1	9:31	155	138
2	9:38	158	154
3	9:40	165	158
4	10:45	164	159
5	10:36	167	162
6.2	12:09	173	165

There are a few pictures of the event at

http://curly.cis.unf.edu/pics/sports/okefen/

Layne