Island Ford Meet - May 8, 2004:

Bill Farrell wrote: First... Martha had nothing to do with this meet... it was my baby! Martha handled registration and other things -- trying to keep me under control... a full time effort!

I wish to thank everyone one for giving it a try... it was green, hilly and hot! I did add the rest of the park to the map (North end)... but only a few made it that far before retiring. My hat is off to the adventure folks for staying out... many of them got all the controls... but some were out 5 plus hours -- easy for these folks, lucky for me they like it hard!

The park is in terrible shape -- pine beetles have ruined (from our point of view) the park... making much of it un-runable. My plan was to set many controls to move folks away from the worst areas. It did not work... last weekend we had a wind storm which dropped more trees, crushing the under story... which was green. All this plus the heat and hills took it's toll.

Adding to the stress was the ranger, doing his duty?, by trying to arrest Joey and Mike... we were finally able to prove we were OK, with permits, permission and fees paid... but he held up more than a few... flashing the lights and promising arrest! His excuse was "Home land security" -- I feel much safer!

Most advanced folks had problems with one pit... but Steve checked it and said it was OK... I simply said that it was right where I hung it -- I was sure of that!

With all the problems, everyone was kind enough to say they had a great workout -- at least!

Running in the green is very different... I guess we must start summer running again... to improve our skills AND maybe I could set easier courses --NOT!