Club XC is next weekend. And I gotta say, Skin, the fact that you aren't sure when it is highlights why I'm a little bit sad and nostalgic heading into the race - the fact that so many of the people who've made this race such a must-do for me over the years aren't gonna be there. Whether injured like yourself or just faded from the sport, there will be a lot of guys missing from the start line this time around.
This is my last year in Men's 40-49, and I've been blessed to be on top club teams for all 8 years that I've run the masters division of the Club XC National Championships.
7 years ago, David Olds twisted my arm to run a cross country race 14 years after I'd last competed as a harrier. I hadn't even run a full 10K (road, track, or XC) before that first Club Nat in Greensboro since my late 20s! We were Team Runners High then, and our goal was to topple the mighty Aggies, who'd notched 4 straight titles. Well, we won, and that's when the fun really started for me as a master. Not because we'd won, but because through Club XC I rediscovered my true love of running, reconnecting with the camaraderie that comes with club XC competition.
Over the next 6 years, with Team Runners High, then Fluffy Bunny, and now Compex Racing, I've been able to train and race with a whole slew of guys who've become my best friends. I've had 26 teammates in nationals races over those years. And we've raced tremendous teams: including that first Aggies team, Excelsior, Genesee Valley, Front Line, Dirigo, Boulder, Bowerman, the Atlanta Track Club, and many others. When you add all the guys from those teams - and from others, and from the women's teams - to the list, I've literally made a hundred-plus new friends through Club XC! Or maybe a couple hundred!!
These new friends have expanded the joy I get from running and from life more than I can say. And I only wish that everyone I've gotten to know, with whom I've battled through snow, mud, rain, hills, wind, sub-freezing temps, etc., with whom I've shared a beer and a laugh afterward, could still be toeing the line with me come next Saturday.
But that's the way of the sport. Great guys like Skin won't be there. Or Tim Minor. Or David O'Keefe. Mike Platt. Tracy Lokken. Paul Aufdemberge. John Hinton. Tom Dalton. Simon Gutierrez. Nolan Shaheed. Etc., ad nauseum.
Of course, there'll be new guys this year. And those of us who are there will form new friendships. But that doesn't mean the old guys won't be missed.
A special shout out to all my masters teammates over the years, who together won 5 Club Championship titles, 4 USA XC titles, 1 5K XC title, and took a 2nd and 3rd in our other two Club Champ outings: David Olds, Angel Roman, Brad Jensen, Andy Atkeson, Dave Parsel, Andy DiConti, Rich Burns, Steve Moreno, Oscar Gonzalez, Angelo DeCollibus, Brian Spangenberg, Walt Hitt, Tony Reyes, Dave Clingan, Pat Green, Jeff Nelson, Jeff Ambos, Michael Buckhoff, Rob Arsenault, Dan Arsenault, Kevin Barda, Ken Ernst, Christian Cushing-murray, Dave Schumacher, Gray Mavhera, and Danny Martinez. You guys are the best!
Okay, hope to see lots of you in Charlotte!