it's wet, damn wet...

4. Macalester
13 Bo Rydze, Sr 27:14.6
15 Roscoe Sopiwnik, Jr 27:25.2
23 Dylan Keith, So 27:58.7
24 Eric Olson, Sr 28:02.1
43 Matt Wegmann, Fr 28:26.0
48 Nate Crider, Fr 28:30.5
49 David Augustson, So 28:32.6
Time = 2:19:06.5 Places = 118

if you look at the results, the times appear astonishingly slow. i think everyone knew the times would be slow due to the wet fall, which produced a soggy course. the temperature was a nice fifty degrees. it was a little breezy. there was also some nice drizzle. congrats on the effort mac, but i won't congratulate you on your fourth place between st. thomas (115) and hamline (121) because i know you expected third. i'm not in a comfy armchair, but here it goes: it is difficult to place third if you don't have any top ten runners, the gap between 1-2 and 3-4 was a little bigger than i expected, and the number 5 runner was average. regions should bring redemption, if you believe in that sort of thing.

dan bucy took the lead immediately, followed by malcolm richards, kelly fulton, several jackasses, and the rest of the pack. the top three opened a lead quickly and the race seemed to spread out early on. outside the top three, runners looked more haggard than usual. the course really took a toll on the runners’ appearances, or maybe the runners this year are just uglier than in past years. but the top three looked smooth, working easy. malcolm took the lead from bucy just before heading into the last small loop. kelly fulton came out from under the stone arch with the lead, turned around, threw a large hammer at malcolm, which malcolm dodged but bucy took directly on the nut sack, and continued to blaze to victory. stolaf won easily and carleton won second easily, proving eliot, who approached people before the race to tout his predictions with the giddiness of the masturbating bear, wrong.

in other observations, i thought i noticed some changes on the course this year. i didn't think there were usually water stations at the conference meet but somebody handed bethel runner david borner a water bottle shaped like a cock. he proceeded to fade from 4th to 32nd.

the mac women took home fifth.

carleton was hosting the meet and took home the dishonor of shittiest finish line management ever. i came across a transcript on the carleton web site from a pre-race meeting about managing the finish line. here it is:

the women's 6k race is usually really spread out and when women finish they continue to charge down the chute. that's true. that means we can make our one and only finish chute two meters wide and taper it down to twelve inches after taking two steps across the finish line. good idea. hey, i have another idea. let's have a single file line of finishers that backs up twenty meters onto the course. yes, that would be hilarious, runners pouring on the surge down the finishing stretch only to have us tell them not to pass anybody else, just wait here please, just a minute. [chortling] they won’t know when to stop their watches, should i stop it now or should i wait until the line moves across the finish. yes, hilarious.

elections
i haven't really been paying attention to swing states and the electoral vote, so i took a look today. if kerry wins ohio, michigan, and wisconsin, i will be running around st. thomas with my willie hanging out. let freedom reign. free willie. i also looked at the senate races. three states with republican party incumbency are tight. five races with democrat party incumbency are tight.

aaron, did you see this article in the asian times. have you heard about it in japan. tokyo traduces history with toxic textbooks. basically, japan was trying to liberate asia from the west, and what japan did in world war two was not only morally right, but magnanimous.

jude, i have a halloween party experience that you should be yearning to hear about. i don't know when i will post about it. i want to build the anticipation.