A wind-aided jaunt of assorted musings and observations from Saturday's Toad Suck 10K/5K:
WHOOSH
The winners had a relatively easy time on the track and surrounding areas of Conway. The dominant force was the wind, some of the most brisk, get-your-attention gusts ever felt at the TSD runs.
It was a strong, biting wind, the kind one might be prepared for on a deer stand or in a duck blind.
It was like taking the polar bear plunge without water.
The scene before the race usually has runners sauntering about in every area about the John McConnell Stadium track. Saturday, most of the runners, in hoodies and warmups, huddled as long as possible in the protected confines of Wampus Cat Stadium.
Sure, there were some hardy females in athletic bras and shorts. A few males finished with their shirts off.
But many participants and spectators had to go to Wardrobe Plan B.
A typical conversation from a woman calling home from a cell phone: "I'm gonna need those light black sweat pants in my closet and she (her daughter) would like those pink sweat pants she wears all the time."
Even the top runners admitted to fighting the wind at various stages. Several runners seemed to be checking their watches for not only times but whether the calendar actually indicated May.
IPODS
At least 40 percent of the runners ran with earplugs with a white cord to Apple iPods either on their arms or attached to their running togs.
Many consider what's on their playlist a privacy issue and when asked, said something like, "just a mix of my favorite songs."
From an informal survey, some said their chosen music to run by was a mixture of rock and roll and country, some contemporary Christian and gospel. One ran to the tune of ZZ Top. Another's preferred music was military cadence and marches.
But the symbols of the modern runner are an iPod on the arm and an electronic timing chip on the shoelaces.
CONTRAST
The biggest contrast in top finishes occurred the the female 5K. The winner was 12-year-old Katherine Bartley of Mount Vernon. In second place was 34-year-old Amy Porter of Conway.
TADPOLE STUFF
The infield area, as families awaited the start of the age-graded Tadpole Trots, seemed like a combination Easter egg hunt and Oaklawn. Children and parents gathered and posed from pictures. Balloons were all about, some high in the air. Siblings ran about more than they might on the track and teased each other.
Fun and frolic were the rule.
THE DOWNSIDE
The volunteers who handle the traffic control as the racers go through the Conway streets, have noted a marked increase in impatience by motorists during the past couple of years.
They claim it's harder and harder to slow down or stop vehicles for a period of time to allow the runners to safely negotiate the intersections and streets. They note there has been a notable increase in "road rage" from those in vehicles toward the runners the last couple of years.
Trying to control the traffic has become more of a safety issue.
It's the mark of a fast-food, microwave society that a lot of people don't want to slow down and wait for anything.
OVERHEARD
"Well, it's (the cold) better than heat."
"Aww, it'll feel good later."
"It's not supposed to be this cold."
"Can you imagine being up in Jonesboro today for the triathlon and swimming in this wind?" "My time was not what it should be. I dropped my iPod and had to go back and get it." "Two months from now, I'll wish for a day like this." Before the race, one female runner asked directions to the women's restroom. She was told there was a line. She said, "I've got to go. I'll find the men's room. I don't care." And KTHV sports anchor Craig O'Neill had this to say as the runners lined up for the start and he raised the starter's pistol; "Listen for the gun. We could not do it this way in southwest Little Rock."
(Sports columnist David McCollum can be reached at 505-1235 or david.mccollum@thecabin.net)
