One of my favorite websites is http://www.metacritic.com/. The site aggregates criticism, using some sort of proprietarial formula, and scores albums, movies, television shows, dvds, and games. For example, Avatar gets an 83, after scoring reviews by the NY Times, the Seattle Times, etc. Ninja Assasin gets a 34. (What????)
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If I’m bored, a good laugh is a sure thing by reading the bad reviews. Highly recommended. For example, “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” gets a 12. The critics say: “Eddie Murphy's latest comedy, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, takes place in the year 2087, which is about the earliest he can hope to be forgiven.” NY Daily News. “Cosmic slop.” Boston Globe. “So unremittingly awful that labeling it a dog probably constitutes cruelty to canines.” NY Post.
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Anyways, right now they’re putting up all sorts of Top 10s for the Decade. A few of my favorite bands scored very well, like Drive By Truckers, Neko Case, and Sleater Kinney in particular. No PJ though.
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All this got me thinking—I have a blog--why don't I try to figure out my favorite races of the decade? So, here’s a crack at it---my most memorable foot races of the decade. Not my fastest, not my best, necessarily, and definitely NONE of my Ski to Sea experiences, which are not fit for publication. Events only--just some of my favorite race memories:
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10. Silver Lake Cross Country 10k (2001). “The creators of “Lost” could not have written a better script.” I told some friends I knew of this great race up near Mt. Baker, got them to drive all the way up north, but I think somedoby pulled all the markings. I remember talking to someone in a field, “Which way is it?” and watching people criss-cross through trees and around hay bales without any assurance. The winning time I think was 46 minutes. Have you ever DNFed a 10k? I have.
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9. Cutthroat Classic (2003). I made it a half mile before taking my ankle out so bad that I was out for four or five months, I think. I crawled out. Not my finest hour--I learned a lot at this race. DNF.
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8. Seattle Marathon 2004. The green shirt year.
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7. Baker Lake 50k 2005. Rain, rain, rain. Sort of like Seattle, I had to pick one. I think I ran this one a little faster, but nothing to blog about. A lot of friends I came to know later were at this one.
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6. Rattler Half Marathon 2004. A near death experience, because I was in really bad shape. Friend Steve and I went over to Winthrop together, and he slept in the truck, and I slept outside next to a tumbleweed fire in really chilly weather before the race, because that sounded like a good idea, which it was not. In the morning, my internal organs felt like those blocks kids play with. I don’t remember sucking so bad in a race—I did have a pretty bad Turkey Trot once, but probably not as bad as this Rattler. Beautiful blue sage though, coming over the hill, which really made it worth it.
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5. Mount Masochist 2008. Dad crewed me, in my home state, Virginia, at the best time of year to be there, the fall. Maybe this should be number 1, but David Letterman never makes number 1 his best punch line. It’s usually four or five.
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4. Wasatch 2008. A hundred miles of heaven and hell. Amazing experience, and great summer of training and racing leading up to it. My friend BJ and I both won the lottery, trained, and both finished, which is all we cared about. Pretty cool. Plus Arches and Canyonlands the week before was pretty a dash ok.
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3. Cascade Crest 2007. I really wanted a buckle. First 100. Not fast, but steady enough. 18 hours of rain, and I cussed a few times.
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2. Whidbey Island 2002. Last time I ran a marathon with my friend Breean. It was the inaugural Whidbey—I was into inaugural stuff that year—also did North Olympic that year, I think.
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And the #1 event of the decade was:
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1. Chuckanut 50k 2004. My first ultra. Many friends showed and supported me. Holley ran the first eleven with me, which is probably illegal. Cousin Paul and Dave bought me my first DVD player while I was running, because they were very frustrated with how slow I was joining the DVD community. They also got me a Live Scorpions and a Scarface DVD to play in it. I ran horribly, awfully, with a sprained ankle the whole way, but I was determined I’d finish one of these things, after DNS’ing once or twice in the years before. Watersheds spring from humble streams.
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I’m forgetting something, many things, I'm sure. NB2V, Orcas, and USMC come to mind. I know my list doesn’t compare to others, but that’s ok. It’s still fun to mess with and reflect--it has been a good decade of running. I may toss a few more Best of Decade lists up if I get bored.
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Happy holidays, friends.
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