The North Face 100: Beast Unleashed

Posted by bolt on May 26, 2009 in trail running | 0 comments

A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud.

Hmmm … “rotating column of air” -> that would best describe the DJs  on the radio show that I am forced to listen to when I commute to work. I think those DJs are very popular with our jeepney/FX drivers so no matter which form of public transport you choose, you’ll end up listening to them everyday. It’s a good thing though that all I will ever experience is the figurative definition of what a twister is. (or so I thought)

We left for Clark last Saturday so that we can meet my friend, Isko at the jump-off area of The North Face 100 to give him some of the supplies he needs for the 2nd 50k loop. The weather was very warm and humid that day that everybody was wearing summer clothes; I didn’t even entertain the thought that I might need to bring my North Face Gore-Tex jacket for the next day’s 20k trail run.

And so it happened: it started with a drizzle and then when it got stronger we decided to take shelter in one of the tents adjacent to the starting line. We were all surprised to see that the starting line fell on the technical committee’s command center, ruining it and almost hitting the people underneath. It was like the entire structure was trampled by an invisible raging Mammoth!

I think I see …mammoth tracks…!!!!

 

The next few minutes happened so fast, I remembered that the entire place suddenly turned dark and I had to run away from the tent I was in since it was also crushed by the beast!

We all took shelter near a cement wall (it was the only thing left standing), wary of the debris that might hit us. At this point, we were all drenched, my trail running shoes included. Luckily, the rusty mountaineer in me instructed my sister to put our cell phones in a plastic bag before kingdom come or else that would have been a costly encounter.

 

We finally met Isko and company at the jump-off site; they were also delayed because of the storm.  It’s good to find out that no one was injured because of what happened. We stayed around a little bit longer before we headed back to Clearwater to prepare ourselves for the next day’s 20k race.

Before I slept, I stared at my wet shoes and wondered … “How many blisters tomorrow?”