The Inaugural Blue Monkey Marathon, April 28 2006

That's right. The Blue Monkeys don't just have a marathon team, we now have our own MARATHON. Dozer's idea originally. We decided there weren't enough point-to-point marathons around. A loop would be OK, but there are no fully paved loops anywhere around the palouse. Out-and-back was definitely out, so we opted for a point-to-point. We're small enough that logistics aren't too much of a problem. Here's the route -- from Troy to Pullman.
Special Handmade Bib Numbers and Medals: With only 5 full marathon participants, you can make all of the medals and bib numbers by hand in very little time.
Mullet, Bryson and Lame: Mullet and Bryson were the bicycle sweep crews. Bryson led, having a hard time staying ahead of the faster runners, installing monkey signs with a hammer. Mullet follow, having a much easier time with the following the slower runners.
Mile Markers: The mile markers had progressively sadder and tired-er looking monkeys. These two were obviously on the first half.
Potty: We all made a quick potty stop at the Troy High School track.
Dozer: Happy and ready to run.
The Runners: Yes, it was cold and windy, and had recently rained. And I'm not sure what Lance is doing there with his pants around his ankles. And here is a movie of the Start of the Race. Yes, it took us a long time to get organized.
First Mile: When everybody is always smiling, even people who shouldn't be marathoning. The first mile plus is on streets in Troy.
Out of Troy: We catch the Latah Trail almost imediately. Nice scenery in Troy, but alas, the paving ends at mile 4.
Bob and Tamara: They're fast, and have already run out of pavement.
Paul: He's moving so fast the camera can hardly capture him.
Mile 4: Still feeling frisky. This section should be paved by 2007, but I'm not holding my breath.
Mad Monkeys: Gonna be a lot madder later.
Mile7: First Fearn and Dozer, then the Brians. The faster runners have left the camera man (Jason), who is also the trailing sweep man and so must wait for the slower Brians, so we will have lots of pictures of them. Isn't this great scenery? Here's a movie of Jason crashing.
Fearn: He's waiting for Dozer, who is somewhere making a pit stop.
Mile10: The second image was used in the Moscow Pullman Daily News. Here's a movie to show how windy it was getting. 10kt headwind the whole day, but the terrain favored the wind in the second half, and even a little bit before.
Hashers Half: The Blue Monkeys run often with the Moscow Hash House Harriers, and they ran this race with us. They chose to do the half because they had all been running races the week before. They easily got to the halfway mark faster then the Monkeys because they're all faster than the monkeys.
Mill Road: The second half starts on Mill Road.
Mile 19: The Brians.
Mile 20 Rest Stop: Manned (Womaned?) by the lovely, talented, and witty Ann T (gosh, I can't remember her last name right now).
Sidewinder: Our time was so slow because of the vicious sidewinder blocking our path at mile 23. Here's a movie.
Monkey In a Tree: We never did recover that monkey.
Last Mile: Brian is starting to show the effects of four hours of headwind.
Finished: Not shown is the picnic we had at the finish sponsored by the Hardy-Dolezileks. Thanks much.