gettin' crazy in the dark

Tonight at 9:58 I will be lining up on Ft. Henry Drive in front of the stadium for one of the biggest running events in the tri-cities, the Fun Fest Crazy 8's. It's an 8k road run that does a figure 8 around town in the dark. Some of the course passes through neighborhoods where the folks who live there light up the street with luminaries, spray the runners down with water, blast music and pretty much turn it into a block party. Probably one of the funniest races I've ever attended mostly because it's at night vs. the early a.m. and the streets are lined with spectators cheering you on. The race really draws a crowd from all over the world especially Kenya. The course holds the record for the world's fastest 8k which has been broken a couple times since I've began running it. I'm tempted to run with my camera in hand to capture some of the race action. Last year I missed out on the run due to a back injury but this year I will be in attendance. My goal is to keep my buddy Chris Dillow in sight for as long as possible. He's a pretty fast runner and if by some crazy chance I can keep up with out bonking I should pull off a pretty good time. I don't expect that this will really happen due to my lack of training but I plan to give it my best shot. Normally I do a 40 mile bike race the morning of but this year I decided to skip the Tour De Possum Creek because of it's re-organization so I should have fresh legs.