I've never tried a one-mile event, so when I heard about the Chase After A Cure on the University of Saint Thomas campus, I thought it might be fun to try. I wasn't expecting a USATF-certified course, but during my warmup, I couldn't help but notice that my Forerunner was counting the cone-marked path short by nearly a quarter-mile. Oh well.
The race director was an MBA student hosting this fundraiser as a class project. Her start line instructions could be distilled into three words: "Follow the cones." The course was an short out-and-back surrounded by a larger loop, laid out functionally in what is known as a "lollipop." When we were sent forth from the back of the athletic center, the two young guys in front of me reached the end of the "lollipop stick," glanced both ways and then exchanged puzzled looks before taking a left turn on the sidewalk. Everyone else followed suit, except for me. I'm certain that I was the only one -- aside from the RD -- that got a look at the arrows on the course map pointing to the right.
So as I proceeded clockwise around campus, I got a chance to wave hello to everyone following the loop the other way. The attendance was roughly thirty and most were walking. I wasn't the first one to return to end of the "stick," but I was the first one back who had followed the course correctly. I slyly suggested to the RD to try directional arrows or signs at her next event.
There was a real winner today, of course -- the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation -- and I hope this project puts that young RD on the path to an A in the classroom.
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