But Not the Only Thing

I the last post, I wrote about the next big thing on my radar screen, The Great Noxapater Journey Run. But it's not the only athletic thing I have planned. In fact, there are three events on my calendar before TGNJR, and I felt a hankering to say a few words about each.

The Heart O' Dixie Triathlon, July 27. This is the oldest continuous triathlon in the continental United States, and I was there when it started. The year was 1980 and a front page article in the Greenwood Commonwealth announced a strange event involving swimming, cycling, and running. I had never heard of anything like it, and before the sun set the next day my entrance fee was in the mail to the Philadelphia Sertoma Club. Literally, the first triathlon I ever heard of I did. I was so naive that initially I was planning to show up without a bicycle. I assumed the race organizers would supply one. Seriously. I, we, knew nothing. In fact, I didn't even have a bike when I mailed in my registration. I borrowed one to train on from Daniel Collins (Howard's brother whom I mentioned in the last post), and just before the event I bought a Kobe from a now extinct bike shop in Indianola, MS.

By the way, the HOD starts at Louisville and passes through Noxapater on the way to Philadelphia ending on the horse track at the Neshoba County Fair. I don't do many triathlons anymore, the HOD being the only one I don't want to miss. I'm not very good at the sport. I swim well, run OK, but ride poorly. I can, and often have literally ridden a bicycle all day long. But triathlons are not about riding all day long, but about riding a set distance very quickly. I don't ride quickly. I've never placed at the HOD. This is the state championship race and draws a huge crowd of top athletes and some Athenas who always have a go at me. It can be pretty indimidating, but I keep showing up. I cherish my T-shirts, the nostalgia of my long gone youth, and the time I get to spend with my Aunt Mary and Uncle Paul. The course is a point-to-point (I love point-to-points), it's hilly, and it's hot. If you do this one, you are sure to suffer. But you'll be proud of yourself the next day for having completed Mississippi's longest (.5 x 27.5 x 7 = 35 miles) and most difficult tri.



Emily Riser, my son, Forrest, and me
 at the MCUMC during the BBB.

Bikes, Blues, and Bayous, August 3. Just one week after the HOD is my hometown's hit ride the BBB. Not a race, our ride has quickly developed into Mississippi's largest bike event drawing over 600 cyclists to a hot, flat, windy course that leaves riders exhausted but exhilarated. Starting and ending in downtown Greenwood before snaking its way through rural Leflore and Tallahatchie Counties, the rolling party offers three distances (20, 46, and 58 miles) and tons of support. It's a perfect destination ride to see the birthplace of the blues and experience the real delta. The highlight of the ride, for me at least, has always been the rest stop at the Minter City United Methodist Church. This tiny delta church prides themselves in hosting the best rest stop anyone has ever seen. Really, I don't want to leave each year. The food is plentiful and good, the shade is soothing, and riders relax and make new friends. If you ride a bike, you need to come to this event.

300 Oaks 10 K, Sept 21. Another hometown event, "the Oaks" is flat, fast, and at the time of year when we usually get that first cool spell. If you have been training in the heat all summer, the third weekend of September normally offers a welcome releave. It can still be hot, and usually is by the time the race is over, but at 8:00 am that time of year, it's never bad. Besides an excellent course, this event offers live entertainement, free food, and another shot to see the Mississippi Delta and place that is both famous and infamous.

These three events may or may not be augmented by others along the way, but these are ones I do every year. They will be fun training adventures on what I hope is a path to a successful Great Noxapater Journey Run.