According to Jungle Law, one need not be faster than the tiger, just faster than at least one other runner.
At least this was my philosophy about 10 a.m. Saturday, waiting to run my first 5K along open-air pens full of the biggest cats in the Valley.
I’d seen the race fliers at Fitness Experts on Ohio Street a few weeks before, advertising a “Run Through the Jungle” within the Exotic Feline Rescue Center near Centerpoint. When I approached my editor about writing an article on running trails lined with tigers, lions and panthers, she thought it was a great idea.
And so it was that Tribune-Star photographer Bob Poynter and I showed up in the suburbs of Ashboro ready to run.
I’ve been a gym rat for about 20 years, but the last time I ran competitively was my junior track season at Northview High School when, just for fun, I added the 800-meter to my usual shot put and discus events. Between March and May of 1992, my crowning moment was a home meet where I almost beat some guy from Sullivan. Up until that moment, I had finished last in every race.
Believe it or not, the stands were full of fans in disbelief and teammates lined the track as we rounded the final curve. I still remember him looking over at me on the final 100-meter stretch, terror in his eyes, as the prospect of being outrun by a thrower propelled him safely across the finish line a couple strides ahead of me. Thus, my record remained unbroken.
Many of my life’s contributions have revolved around making others feel better about themselves.
So as I hung out at the wooded race point at Harmony and Ashboro roads with 291 runners and walkers, I knew I wouldn’t finish first, and no sliver of ego was shaking from this knowledge.
The sky was overcast and air cool from overnight thundershowers, and the ground was a little damp and muddy. But the atmosphere was more like a family reunion and most of the participants said they follow the circuit of races offered by groups like the Wabash Valley Road Runners, kids and grandkids in tow. Area musician Craig Brenner hit the keyboard, playing music as runners warmed up on the road, making for a Saturday morning festival out in the boondocks.
Within the woods, tables full of cookies, bananas, brownies and energy drinks were hit up left and right in the name of carb-loading, and I remembered reading how much sugar long-distance runners can consume as they prepare to burn it all off in one race.
Now, right off the bat, I figured any 13-year-old girl on any middle school cross country team would smoke me like a cheap tire. And the same went for the deceptively gray senior citizens lining the road. Anyone in between was fair game, particularly those carrying a 200-pound frame similar to mine.
Dave Ford and his wife, April, of Terre Haute, were there to walk the trail while their two kids ran. Both were kind enough to not laugh too hard as I joked that my goal was to average a 7-minute mile for the race. As lifelong Chicago Bears fans, they know how to cheer for optimists in the face of reality.
Nearly 300 people packed up on Ashboro Road outside the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, with instructions to run west to an intersection about 11/4 mile away, turn around, then come back for the final leg through the trails. This would give the crowd time to disperse into a stream and make for more room.
I got up at the head of the mob for the start. I regularly run for distance on my own, but had never been with a group that large and had no idea what my pace would be. My initial strategy was to hang with the fast runners and hope to pace with them.
This worked well for about 40 yards. After that, a rushing crowd moved past and I settled into a stride that seemed doable for the duration. Pre-teens and seniors passed me by, and as my shirt sopped up the sweat, I thought, good for them. I did get a little curious as guys who looked more like me than not began to pass, but as I rounded toward the second mile I saw them on walking breaks. Before I broke into the second mile, what had started as a 300-person blob had fragmented into a long stream of individuals moving ahead, slowing back, and moving ahead again, all seeming to have a good time.
As I suspected, participants in these events are as supportive as competitive, and as I passed Dave on the way back toward the center I yelled out that my 7-minute mile wasn’t going to happen.
He said he admired my math as he trekked up the road.
The winning group was crossing the finish line as I entered the last mile within the center’s trails, and I hopped down the paths into the mud as volunteers pointed out which way to go. Eight-hundred-pound tigers pressed their faces against their pens, and I did figure out which way not to go.
Two-thirds of the way into the 5K, I decided Jungle Law was nonsense. If it came down to me and Sher Khan in a race for survival, I’d be 200 pounds of tiger floss.
But aside from a few attention-grabbing roars, the animals seemed content to watch the lunch line move on by, lazily lounging around the big show. Heading back to the road and out the gate for the final stretch, which seemed all uphill, those who’d already finished jogged cool-downs back and forth along the paths.
I crossed the finish line at 30:11, making for about a 9.7-minute mile average and a 95th place I’m pretty happy with for my first time out on a 3.11-mile cross-country run.
According to race organizer Gary Anderson, Tom Webster, 31, of Columbus, took first place among the men with a time of 18.23. Janelle Ralph, 27, of Terre Haute, took first amongst the women with 19.29.
Anderson said Webster and Ralph both took first at last year’s race there as well.
This was the fifth year for the race at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, and Anderson said that after expenses, the group netted more than $3,000 for the cause.
“It’s worked out really well,” he said, explaining that he and the center’s veterinarian, Fred Froderman, came up with the idea when they saw how conducive the trails are to running.
While not an official Wabash Valley Road Runner event, Anderson said the group is always helpful in the organization and year after year produces a strong turnout.
“There are just so many stories about this race,” he said afterward, answering questions for one more as it was being written.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Big cats eye runners as they raise money for Exotic Feline Rescue Center
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Rockville correctional facility program teaches life skills
It’s hard to know who benefits the most: the inmates or the dogs.
-
AAA mag recognizes city for arts works
The nonprofit organization that uses outdoor sculpture to draw attention to Terre Haute is getting some notice of its own.
-
State pushing for convenience stores to make safety a higher priority
In 2002, after New Mexico forced convenience store owners to put sweeping security measures into place for clerks working late-night hours, the number of robberies dropped by 92 percent. Assaults, murders and other crimes at convenience stores also dropped dramatically.
Now Indiana officials are hoping voluntary compliance with similar safety standards will bring about similar results.
-
Patriotism & Honor
From his vantage point, Sonner Faught could see almost every volunteer in the cemetery.
-
Graduation turns to mourning in Clinton
Jeana Lunsford’s graduation from South Vermillion High School Saturday should have been a time of celebration.
-
School choice proponents foresee growth of vouchers
Twenty-seven Vigo County students benefited from tax-supported vouchers during the first year of the Choice Scholarship Program, and that number is expected to grow for 2012-13, say Indiana school choice leaders who visited Terre Haute Thursday.
-
Tales of obstruction meet first takeover attempts
A decade after Indiana legislators gave the state the power to take over chronically failing schools, the first implementation of the law is meeting with resistance, skepticism and questions about its costs.
-
MIKE LUNSFORD: Raising a flag for my father, veteran or not
My daughter, Ellen, and I stood at my parents’ graves on Mother’s Day a few weeks back and talked about how it couldn’t possibly have been so long since we lost them. My dad, for instance, has been gone for 16 years, and that is nearly unimaginable
-
3 rescued from burning residence
Quick action on the part of some first-responders is credited with saving the lives of three people in a Vermillion County fire early Saturday morning, according to the Vermillion County Sheriff’s Department.
-
He never forgot a name: Friends remember victim of fire at Garfield Towers
When Freddie Poore met you, he never forgot you.
-
Hometown boy embraces ‘Promise I Made’: Clinton native Ken Kercheval takes role in Dreams Come True production
Thanks to some help from a hometown boy in Hollywood, “This Promise I Made” is still on track to be kept in Clinton.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Many say they don’t vote in primary because of tag that comes with it
A couple of columns ago, I posed a question about why most Indiana polling places on primary election day had so few customers.
-
Police looking for convenience store robber
Police are seeking a robbery suspect following a Saturday morning armed robbery at the Jiffy MiniMart at 25th Street and Eighth Avenue.
-
Graduation ‘responsibility’: Rose-Hulman stages 134th commencement exercises
Inventor Dean Kamen gave a first-hand demonstration Saturday of how to be an innovator.
-
THE OFF SEASON: To the seniors, one last lecture before you go …
It dawned on me one day last week, as I sat at my desk in my teacher clothes and shoes, a stack of ungraded essays calling to me from a rather tall and depressing pile, that I hadn’t missed a high school graduation in 33 years.
-
Water rescuers
Emergency personnel wheel a man who was removed from a vehicle that had been driven into the water at Crystal Lake on Boston Avenue near 14th Street at about 9 p.m. Friday.
-
For many, camping outdoors is the way to beat the heat, enjoy nature
Stringing up fishing poles in the shade of American flags, households full of Hoosiers are packing into parks across the state this weekend.
-
Towns along National Road readying for next week’s miles-long yard sale
Stretching 824 miles from Baltimore to St. Louis, the National Road — known as U.S. 40 through Indiana — will soon be the host site for perhaps the longest bargain market in the country.
-
Rose grads honoring late president Branam at commencement today
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Class of 2012 will honor the memory of Matt Branam during today’s commencement ceremony by wearing special pins with the phrase “Make It Happen; Make It Fun,” a favorite saying of the former Rose-Hulman president, who died unexpectedly on April 20.
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 26, 2012
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Thursday and Friday, based on jail records. Charges are recommended by arresting officers but are not final until the Vigo County prosecutor reviews the case and files official charges.
-
A fallen soldier returns home
An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Arronn D. Fields early Thursday morning at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
-
Official touts trade with northern neighbor
A top Canadian diplomat told a Terre Haute audience Thursday his country was “disappointed” when President Obama at least temporarily rejected a proposed transcontinental oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
-
Caution urged for summer’s kickoff
Lane restrictions in construction zones on Interstate 70 and other highways around the state will be lifted to accommodate holiday travel for the Memorial Day Weekend.
-
Letters delivered
Several positions will be eliminated this summer at the Terre Haute mail processing facility as the U.S. Postal Service begins moving the operation to Indianapolis, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman has confirmed.
-
Companies seek Vigo tax abatements
Two Vigo County companies are seeking tax abatements for expansion projects, one of which is included as part of a county incentive package.
-
High-speed chase suspect caught in West Virginia
The suspect in a cross-country, high-speed chase originating in Terre Haute last week was reportedly in federal custody Thursday evening.
-
Second victim of deadly I-70 semi-trailer crash identified
The Vigo County Coroner’s Office has identified the passenger of a semi-tractor crash on May 16 in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 near the 12-mile marker.
- VIGO COUNTY JAIL LOG: May 22-24, 2012
-
Burn ban in effect for Vigo County through holiday weekend
Vigo County officials have issued a burn ban effective Thursday and remains in effect until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
-
Brazil remembers a Fallen Son
A small town seemed sadly quiet Wednesday, waiting to honor a local fallen warrior.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face
Man in Crane at Texas College Says He's Armed
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Obama Honors Fallen Troops at Arlington Cemetery
Raw Video: Deadly Explosion at Minn. Paper Mill
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Romney Promises World's Strongest Military
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy
Obama Pays Tribute to Vietnam Veterans
Beryl Knocks Out Power in Florida
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Memorial Day Aboard Intrepid
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Los Angeles Bar Bans Bachelorettes
Hamster Plays Dead
Beyonce Shows Off 60 Pound Weight Loss at Concert
Drunk Women Breaking Into Houses: A New Trend?
LeAnn Rimes Rocks Short Shorts
Gordon Ramsay Carried Off Field
Man Dies Getting Lap Dance
Kim Kardashian Claims Items Stolen from Her Luggage
Bear cools off in Calif. family's pool
Ep. 3: Chopped Desserts
Air Force dad surprises family at baseball game
Justin Bieber Wanted for Questioning for L.A. Scuffle
J.Lo and Marc's Friendly Reunion
Jet makes emergency landing after debris falls off
Cynthia Nixon Ties the Knot
Woman, 80, Falls Out of Skydive Harness Mid-Jump
Keira Reveals Engagement Ring
