Race becomes a muddy mayhem

PALMER — The rain began Friday night, and by Saturday had developed into a full-blown downpour. Still, for the more than 1,000 cross country athletes who traveled to Palmer for the state’s largest high school meet of the regular season, the rain just made things more interesting.

“That was a blast,” Susitna Valley runner Missy Scott said moments after slogging though the mud bog that were the Janacek Trails at Palmer High.

Scott, along with every other runner that completed the course — which winds its way through the woods behind the school — emerged from the trees covered in mud. It was unavoidable, as several sections of the course were so bad runners had to slow themselves to a near-walk in order to avoid falling on their backsides.

Despite the tricky conditions, runners Saturday were nearly unanimous in praising the weather Gods for bringing the first big rain storm of the season on the day of the big meet.

“The fact that you actually get dirty and race at the same time and have fun, that’s pretty cool,” Su Valley’s Mike Stevenson said.

Stevenson pointed out that running in the rain is actually a bit of an advantage for runners, many of whom prefer cooler conditions.

“If you’re running in the sunshine, you get really hot really quick,” he said. “When it’s raining, you stay cool.”

Most runners ran the course in long, metal spikes to help improve footing on the course, which also featured several windy, muddy hills for runners to negotiate.

“If you didn’t have spikes, you were in trouble,” Palmer’s Jake Parisien said. “I’ve got some big ones.”

One impact of the mud was how runners approached the race. With hundreds of runners spread out along the way, coaches said the best plan was to get out in front of the pack quickly in order to avoid bottlenecks as runners slowed to avoid slippery sections of the course.

“I told them to get out quick,” Wasilla coach Gary Howell said.

While the top runners and coaches had to alter strategy because of the conditions, most athletes at the event seemed to be having a pretty good time just playing in the mud.

“It was the funnest race all season,” a mud-covered Ashley Evans, of Su Valley, said shortly after her race.

“You slip around, but that’s the fun,” she said. “It’s not that competitive because everybody’s just trying not to fall down.”