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| 1st place as part of team CMS at Mt Hood |
Melrose has an emerald gem – Mt. Hood Golf Course. The event
hosted the ninth annual and always challenging 3.5 mile cross country race. The
course changes over the years but there is no way around not having to climb up
and down the hills. On this particular Saturday, patches of snow cover and ice
scattered the greens and cart paths. Overall, footing was safe and the course
was laid out to avoid any danger of wiping out on your rear end. It was a cold
and cloudy day. CMS had four representing – Nate Jenkins, Greg Putnam, Dan
Verrington, and I. Three score for a team in the end and Greg put the word out
that he was interested in getting the team prize a week earlier. The start
bolted out and single file was the rule. I was in 10th place after
400m. I passed the one mile marker in 5:47 a few steps behind a guy (Patrick
Ward per results). The race took a massive hill on that was worthy of the
mountain series. I let out a few expletives approaching it in fun. I kept on
the heels in front of me and surges continued dependent on terrain and footing.
We dropped into mile three where you could see everyone in front and or peek
behind to size up what is needed to finish strong or whimper in. I got past
Patrick and tried to reel in Andreas Heilmann but I ran out of space at the end
which has a generous decline on the road to the finish line. I finished ninth
overall. It took me 19:42 to cover the distance. My Garmin measured 3.37 miles
(5:52 / mile). The team took the win and we each got an awesome Nutcracker
which is pretty cool to put on display at home. The team gathered inside for
pasta, salad, chowder and laughs.
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| Hustling into the finish |
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| An idea of the course |
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