Apple Festival 5k

On Saturday, October 17, we ran in the Apple Festival 5k in Taylorsville. Par for the course, it was unseasonably cold and wet. However, the rain managed to stay firmly anchored over Morganton, making conditions for the run simply cold and damp as opposed to cold, damp and raining. This Apple Festival course is a very interesting course through part of the residential area of downtown Taylorsville, consisting of lots of up and down over several streets. It has grown considerably, attracting twice the number of runners as last year. Unfortunately, with growth comes growing pains, and the event's scoring system was ill-equipped to deal with the number of runners. As a result, placings were either completely mixed-up (Amy), or lost altogether (Jim). Despite pledges by the Alexander County YMCA to improve on this for next year, it provided considerable frustration this year. Even after feedback was given, I am still not listed among finishers, nor do I know how I stacked up against my age group. I know I finished the same time as Amy (23 minutes, 55 seconds). At least Amy's time was officially recorded, although awards for her age group were fouled up, and Amy was listed as 4th place when she finished in 1st. Fortunately, her age group consisted of honorable women, and at the insistence of the runners, the appropriate placings were awarded, with Amy recognized as the winner of the Women's 30-34 age group. We believe she finished 4th overall among women, although the final results are invalid. Hopefully things will improve for next, as this is a neat course that provides a break from the flat, often uninteresting courses that can make up 5k races.