Living History Farms Off-Road Races (Urbandale, Iowa)
Saturday, November 17, 2001Race report from Kathryn...
Date: Tues Nov 20, 2001
Subject: Iowa--PART ONE--The Adventure Begins Here is my version of events:
Kelly, Jacquie and I drove to Detroit Wednesday night to Mary’s comfy home. It was close on midnight when we knocked on the door. Mary is really cute when she is wobbly with sleep.
The drive to Iowa was long. The drive to Iowa was long. The drive to Iowa was long. But we had good weather. Arrived in time for supper at the Machine Shed Restaurant where they served embarrassingly large portions of everything. The smoked pork and beef were quite
impressive.That night Mary slept on the coil side of her mattress, while I slept on my amazing new 2” of air/cell foam mattress. There was a bit of hysteria at 5 am when Mary told me about her less than comfortable snooze on wires. It was one of those “Most Funny Moments in My Life”
sort of occurrences with great guffaws, wheezes, choking, drooling, beating the floor…you get the idea.Friday morning we breakfasted with our Iowa Hostesses with the Mostesses: Anne Chapman and Marce Zeman. Last time we were together was PWC I at Chicago. It was so great to be with them again.
Friday was a day for shopping for proper attire for the race. Anne and Jacquie went for the sassy babe look with their shirts: Sugar Daddy and Big Squeeze-Charmin, over hot pick, tiny lycra tops (I kid you not). Marce, Kelly and moi went for feather boas, tiara, fluffy ribbons, gloves, glitter face and frou-frou feather socks. Yes, Penguins on Parade.
Afterwards, we had another “Special Moment” slipping and sliding on the greasy (I kid you not) floors at the Krispy Kreme. For me, eating a hot glazed Krispy Kreme was one second of delicious, hot, smooth sweetness, five minutes of “oh my goodness, what have I put in my
mouth”, followed by a yucky feeling in my stomach for the next hour. Pictures to follow.Friday afternoon, Kelly, Marce and Anne did what they do best--they went SHOPPING!! Jacquie and I saw a special on culture at the Des Moines Art Center and went to get some. This was a glorious experience. They have put together a fine collection of some 19th century and a lot of 20th and modern art. Lots of representative pieces. What was most impressive was the grace with which they were displayed. It was a relaxing, playful experience. The guards (who looked like Iowa farmers) were eager to share their wealth of knowledge about the various works. I would strongly recommend you visit this gallery even if you think you aren’t interested---you might come away very surprised.
Then we went cruising various neighbourhoods, gawking at the houses. Jacquie and I celebrated sunset at the State House, a beautiful building with gold domes.
We met our buddies at Mamma Laconi’s for a pre-race dinner with some other great Iowa Penguins. It was especially nice to meet Meredith from the Courage-to-Start list.
We managed to get to bed at a reasonable hour so we could get up at an unreasonable hour on race day. And then we got ready for the Main Event. And that is another story...
Subject: Iowa..The Adventure Continues..
The adventure continues, according to moi…
Race day was typical Iowa, late November weather---hot, sunny. Over 3100 runners, mostly under the age of 25, gathered for the festive Living History Farms Cross Country Race, North America’s largest cross-country race. 5.3 miles of cornfields, wheat fields, tractor ruts, beautiful black earth, prettiest mud you’ve ever seen, gentle, mooshy riverbanks, logs, ropes, grass, and more mud made this a challenging, hilarious race. Some speedy people ran fine races and posted some good times, given the conditions. The huge number of high school cross country teams running for fun, horsing around and playing with the Penguins made this a very special event. Hikerwanda was a very happy girl.
After the so-called adults had run, there were a series of smaller races on the grass for little people. It was great to see these sturdy, eager children giving it their best. Just standing around in the Iowa sun, among such relaxed and friendly people, was very comforting for me, a balm on the scars of September 11. Being in the heartland was healing for me.
Awards included plaques with small tractors, and birds of various sizes. Yes, turkeys, chickens, ducks, Cornish hens were handed out. This was Iowa!
Marce and Anne took us to a diner from the fifties to celebrate our victorious race. I really felt like I was a teenager again, out with my high-school buddies. We were silly and giggly and had our milk shakes poured into glasses on top of our heads. Our waitress was magnificent,
a museum item from 50’s waitressing…the Cohn brothers could use her in a movie. She pushed us around, didn’t let us smart-mouth her for a second. We learned who was boss real quick. We filled up on onion rings, French fries, and burgers. Oh, to be 15 again!We opted not to go bowling (yes, Hikerwanda wanted to bowl) and found a lovely park to play on the see-saw, the swings and to take naps. The late afternoon was still warm.
We then spent some time at TJ Maxx shopping. Got a little dizzy there.
Then we headed back to the hotel at the Living History Farms. We lounged around, chatting until Marce and Anne saw the sun setting and decided it was time to head back to Ames and Cedar Rapids. We reluctantly said our good-byes with many hugs and words of appreciation. Thank you again Anne and Marce for giving us such a wonderful time. Another Penguin Dream fulfilled.
And the Great North Penguins prepared to migrate homewards in the morning... and THAT is another story...
Subject: Iowa... The Trip Home
For me, it is always faster going home. Which is very nice. We got up with meteors showering around us and headed back east from Iowa. We made great time (zoom, zoom, zoom) and arrived at Mary’s in time for beer, pizza and a really great movie, “Saving Grace”…one of those comedies only the British can do…in the spirit of the one about the lottery ticket: Waking Ned Devine.
As soon as there was enough light in the morning, three of us left the sleeping princess on the couch all snuggled up, and went out for a run. Mary led me and Kelly around one of her routes. It was so nice to see Mary’s world. She makes all this running stuff seem so much more possible for me. Thank you again Mary for your hospitality, practicality, rough,crusty outside and soft, gooey, kind inside. You are one pesky penguin.
After breakfast at Leon’s, the Canucks headed back the way they came. Ran into some unfriendly rain, wind, and trucks on the Canadian side of the border. We eventually made it home in time for Mary’s Snow Dance to finally take effect. The Late Fall Summer ended upon our arrival in Toronto.
We are already thinking up ways to get people to come see us on this side of the border. Maybe Mary can bring Violet and Millard to London or to Point Pelee. There are races to run, people to see. Penguins gotta keep moving.
I am backing in loving arms and paws. It is nice to be home with such fine memories.
This afternoon I meet again with Trainer Boy for cycling and weights. And THAT is another story...
Hikerwanda
Race report from Kelly...
Date: Tues Nov 20, 2001
Subject: TOP TEN REASONS WHY...
YOU SHOULD/SHOULDN"T TRAVEL WITH LITTLE OLE' LADY PENGUINS!!!!! 10. They always go to bed early and then get up at 5:00am giggling like school girls. Particular memory is Kathryn sounding like a Walrus on a pogo stick.. this was the mattress incident that you may have read about in Kathryn's post. Oh - they also snore....
9. Anytime they are asked what they want to do, they suggest bowling.....
8. They have a poster of Snoopy over their bed.
7. They gladly wear pink feather boas and purposely slide down mud banks squealing weeeee....
6. They keep their 35 marathon medals in a pile in their basement....
5. They always tell you the truth....(direct quote: "YOU ARE AN IDIOT!") and for some reason, it doesn't hurt your feelings....
4. They keep 4 kinds of beer in their fridge including Blueberry! Yum yum!!!!
3. They get goofy smiles on their faces... a lot....
2. On ANY occasion in a restaurant, hotel, fast food outlet, they loudly ask in a crusty manner "DO YOU HAVE SENIORS DISCOUNTS????".
1. They are the most fun to be with and have the biggest, kindest hearts that I have ever encountered in my life!!!!!
Kelly in Toronto still grinning at all the memories!
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Living History Farms Photo Essay
Photos courtesy of Kelly and Marce in Ames, Ia.
Rule #1: Never fall asleep first at a Penguin Encounter!
In the hotel lobby before the race: Jacquie, Kelly, Kathryn and Mary D.
From L to R: Marce, Kelly, Kathryn and Jacquie.
At the race starting line. From L to R: Joe and Jean from Cedar Rapids, Kelly (behind), Anne from Cedar Rapids, Marce from Ames, Mary D.
Kelly (left): Hold on, I've got you!
Jacquie (right): I can't believe you talked me into this!
Marce wins best dressed fence jumper!
Kathryn (in pink tutu), Jacquie (in red, holding water bottle) and Kelly (in the water) cross the stream!
Jacquie: [thinking] I can't believe I'm crawling under a log and that Kelly and Kathryn talked me into this!
Solider: [thinking] These runners are crazy!
Post-race: Nice legs ladies! From L to R: Mary D, Kelly, Kathryn (kneeling), Jacquie, Anne, Marce, Meredith.
Kathryn prepares to open two beer bottles the old-fashioned way... With her ears!
Jacquie: [thinking] I can't believe I'm getting a milkshake poured on my head AND they want me to do this race next year!
To top it off, the Penguin ladies hijacked a Krispy Kreme truck. From L to R: ?, ?, Kathryn, Mary D, Jacquie and Kelly.
