Shiprock Half Marathon
Shiprock, New Mexico
Saturday. May 7, 2016
As I was waiting for the bus to take me to the start
line of the Shiprock Half Marathon in Shiprock, New Mexico on Saturday. May 7,
2016, the temperature was 46 degrees and the wind was blowing 15-20 mph with
much higher gusts creating much blowing dust and there was some rain even
though this was a desert race. I decided
to dress warmer than a tee shirt and shorts so I added a long sleeve thermal
shirt under my tee shirt and long warm-up thermal pants over my shorts and a
head cap. When I arrived at the start
line about 30 minutes before the start, conditions were the same and it seemed
like the proper outfit; however, I noticed about 15 minutes before the start
the wind had almost stopped and the edge of clear skies was creeping towards
the race course. All of the participants
were faced with a dilemma as to what to wear.
I decided the new conditions were going to prevail and removed the extra
clothes, placing them in my gear bag and wore just the tee shirt and
shorts. I made the right decision. The course was a point to point path
utilizing two highways, the first, covering 7 miles, had two lanes one of which
was dedicated to the approximately 1300 participants with just over 200 in the
marathon, just under 700 in the half marathon, and about 120 relay teams, each
having 5 members and the other lane dedicated to the relay buses and other
vehicles utilized by the event. The
other highway was a four lane divided highway with wide shoulders where one
shoulder and the adjacent lane was completely dedicated to the
participants. These roads have the
unique property that there is no housing or sided roads until the last mile of
the course. Water/Gatorade stations were
spaced two miles apart for the first 3 and one mile apart after that. There were plenty friendly efficient
volunteers to take care of the needs of the participants. The event is completely held on the Navajo
Indian Reservation near the Four Corner Region.
Shiprock is a major rock formation that is the remains of an ancient
volcano and rises about 1500 feet above the surrounding land. It can be seen from all directions from a
distant of as far as 70 miles away. I
have done this well organized, interesting, fun event three times and the event
has existed for more than 30 years. The
Navajo People have really taken an interest in running. The first time I did the event about 15-20%
of the field were of minority ethnicity, now the event has 75-80% Navajo and
Hispanic origin. In fact one Navajo
woman who did the half marathon, named Linnabak Snyder, just participated in
the US Marathon Olympic Trials. A sad
note hung over the race as a local eleven year old Navajo girl, named Ashlynne
Mike, was raped and murdered on May 1, 2016 between the start line and the
Shiprock formation. The race was
dedicated to the memory of this young girl who suffered such a tragic event
(the perpetrator has been arrested). On
a happier note for me I had another outstanding time that was only 2 seconds
slower than my performance on Ohio and I managed to earn first place in my
running age group even though I walked the entire distance.
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