Riddle Run 2010 Report

Yesterday was the 11th annual running of the infamous event called the "Riddle Run."  Officially, this is a 28-mile fun run--but people are "allowed" to do as much or as little as they want.  No entry fee and no finisher awards.  It's a great winter fat ass run.  I kept my "I'm King of the Riddle Run World" streak alive by finishing my 11th one.  I now have a total of 249 "Riddle Run miles."  I finished in 5:49--not my fastest time, but it went well and it certainly wasn't my worst finish.  For a quick comparison, last year I finished 28 miles in 8:56 (that's a whole 'nother story).  The trails were snow covered and a bit icy in a couple spots, but overall, we had reasonable footing.  The weather started off in single digits (around 9 degrees), and then slowly warmed up to about 20 degrees by the time I finished.  Lots of sun and only a little wind made the day pretty nice for running.  There were 89 starters and 14 finished the full 28 miles. As usual, many stopped at 12 miles (3 loops).

Overall Champions:
1st male - Matt Small, 3:58:30
1st female - Kristy Powell, 4:18 (tied course record)

As the tradition goes, Matt and Kristy will receive an invitation from me to run the Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run (the race is closed, but the Riddle Run champions are allowed to register). Poor Scott Dewitt tried to win this race so he could get into Clinton Lake.  He had a great run, but ended up in 3rd place.  Considering his name is "Dewitt" and Clinton Lake is run in Dewitt, maybe I should let him into the race anyway? 

This was the first Riddle Run with visitors from out of state (Indiana doesn't count!).  The current Clinton Lake record-holder (Logan) came from Colorado to get in a nice long run and two "50 & DC Club" folks came up from Georgia (Walt & Kendel) to get in a marathon distance run.  This little Midwest event is going national! 

I hadn't gotten in a run over 10 miles in over 3 months.  Winter has taken its toll on me.  I'm happy I finished the full 28 miles and still feel good today.  I suppose this has kick-started my training for the Canadian Death Race.  Time to get serious and start doing a lot more long runs.