BLESSING WAY 12 K
 

1  Derrick Blaylock,"115"	29:40	27:40	24:50	-----	------	1:22:10	11:02
2  Tony DeArcos,51	27:45	29:45	32:22	-----	------	1:29:52	12:04

                                                     BLESSING WAY 4 K
 

1  Carter Williams,45*	25:45	-----	-----	-----	-----	25:45	10:22
2  Paul Hanson,51	31:22	-----	-----	-----	-----	31:22	12:38

       (*Carter also ran 6 bonus miles from his home nearby to run with us)
                                                     BLESSING WAY 2K
 

1 Jill Bohney (walking with pooch and carrying baby with "internal" frame pack)

Poems and Prayers and Promises
     Wednesday night I lay in bed and dreamed that John Bartley, Troy Olson, and I all showed up at the start of the Blessing Way 20 K and canceled the run in favor of a snowshoe trip up Lone Peak above Draper.  No one else showed up in my dream.  I awoke early Thursday morning and stumbled out to the kitchen praying that the run wouldn't be a flop.  My promise to myself in putting on this run was that I would truly feel grateful if even one person showed up to share the trails that day.  I heated some water and made myself my favorite pre run drink: Hot Lemon Zinger tea with honey.  I munched on the best pretzels in the world: Rold Gold Honey-Wheat Braided Twist Pretzels.  Sometime later , I snuck down a banana while reading the morning newspaper.   I puttered around the house acquiring clothes, shoes, and a pair of snowshoes.  Why not?  Might come in handy.  I left home at 7 am and drove up Red Butte Canyon and turned left towards the Huntsman center and a 1/4 of mile north backed my Mazda MPV up against a snowy back.  I decided to head out on the first loop with snowshoes, although it really didn't look too bad - only 3 to 4 inches of snow accumulated yesterday.  The temperature was below 30 degrees but felt warmer than it had all week.   Just as I was leaving, Derrick Blaylock drove up and laughed at my snowshoes.  He was waiting for Troy Olson to show up.  He planned on running a loop only because he was still trying to shake off a cold.  I waved goodbye and headed out up the trail making a nice wide trail for the runners to follow.  The first loop was hard and slow slogging since I was putting up yellow ribbons.  There were lots of rocks making it difficult to stay upright.  Some of the loop up in Red Butte Canyon had more snow and some real steep parts with rocky treacherous footing. "Looks great!" I thought.  "Trail runners will appreciate the adversity."  It took me over 50 minutes to do loop one and I quickly changed into trail shoes and dashed out on Loop 2.  With a good push through the snow, which was like running on soft sand, I managed to get back to the starting line with a few minutes to spare before the large group of runners began their first loop.  Troy and Derrick had started at 8am.  The run started with a , "Okay, you can go now." This was spoken by the race director, yours truly, and off the runners went soon leaving me behind except for Wild Bob Henderson who was declaring his intention to perforn another DFL (Dead Freaking Last).  I was sure I had nailed that designation down pat with the slow first loop.  Bob was pulling a "Shaffer" move by being the only one to run in shorts ( bare legs).  Mike used to say to us, " Well, if isn't below 20 degrees F, why would you want to wear pants?"
     Patrick, Reyn, John B., Ryan, Sean, Dale, and Charlie all shot out in the lead on that first trip around.  They all popped around in about 25 minutes.  This is a great time for the snow conditions.   By the third loop Patrick and Reyn were staging a close battle for the lead with Patrick only a few seconds ahead.  Reyn kept applyng  pressure but Patrick felt great on the last loop and ran his fastest of the day in 22:06, a sub 9 minute mile.  Reyn was less than a minute behind.  Sean Dalby's course record of 1:52 was safe for this year (Shauna Heisler holds the womens record in 2:18, also safe).  Third place was nailed down by John Bartley and Ryan Wixom.  John has run under 2 hours and won this run 2 years ago.  They were followed by Sean, Dale, Charlie, and a surprising performance by 60 year old Dave Blaylock in 2:19.  He astually ran faster every loop he did finishing with a sparkling 25:40 last loop.
    Marti took the lead from Eve and Colleen right from the first loop and held on despite bonking at the end for a victory.  Eve, despite giving her dogs some running time, came in second not long after Marti and Colleen held a very steady pace for third. Also holding a statistical steady pace was Ferret John Diroll who didn't give me any loop times, so I filled his in with his finish time divided by five.  You can't run any steadier than that.
    Out on last part of the12.4 mile (5 loop)  course, I saw lots of sweaty brows.  The temperature must have gotten up to about 40 degrees F because the snow was melting off the rocks and making it even more trecherous than I had planned on.  I remember making a few hasty prayers for my safety as I slipped down a couple of very steep and slippery sections and hoped I would be able to stay upright.  By the time my "Bell" lap came, I was grateful to get off that slippery canyon section and swoop on down the last snowpacked trail section curving around the hazardous waste building.  It got better and better as the runners kept packing it down with each loop.  I saw several hikers with dogs taking advantage of our trail during the day.  Consider it our public service: A community effort as good citizens to provide fun trails.
   Bob Henderson finally did come in dead last but it was only after he crawled on his elbows and knees the last 100 feet through the snow.  You would have laughed your head off to see this tense scene and finally he edged over the line 3 seconds after my 5 loop running time. So, Mr. Bob once again delivers on his promise to seek the designated DFL title.   You can seek to unseat this worthy champion in 2004.  We had a marvelous time this year.  Wish more of you could come.  You would really enjoy the scenery and the trails.
    I have spoken of a few prayers and a few promises.  Now for the poem.
                                Out on the snowy trail I go
                                Under the sunny sky aglow
                                Running and dancing the morning away
                                And happy my thoughts, I want to say,
                               To be dead last in this charming mob
                                Is really terrific, "Three cheers for Bob"
Irv