When half the streets in town are blocked by the National Guard in Humvees, it should come as no surprise all the trails in the county are also closed.  Still, I expected the East Boulder Trail to be open given its high ground.  But then it does lead down to the raging Boulder Creek after three miles.  So I decided to run Prospect Road leading east from my house to County Line Road.  This made for a 6 mile run.  And the hard-packed dirt surface emulates the Boulder Back Roads I’ll be running on in next Sunday’s marathon.  I ran into Keith who was returning from the same course.  Later, Steve pinged us to text that he also ran this course, taking it a bit further on Pipit to the flood waters.

After well-deserved naps, our relay team met up last night on Keith’s front porch to eat and drink our relay supplies.  Somehow this led to tequila shots which I’m fairly certain were not part of our relay provisions.  I’ve come to terms with my disappointment in the relay cancellation.  In light of the suffering of some of our neighbors from the unprecedented flooding, everyone seems to have come to terms with the letdown.  For the less empathetic of us, there was tequila.

We are less sympathetic to the plight of Paul, the Roads Less Traveled race director.  He refuses to refund even partial registration fees.  We paid $1100 as a team for registration, plus another $300 for volunteers.  I should say paid volunteers, but the race director doesn’t use that oxymoron as a descriptive in his emails.  I understand Paul would have some expenses to line up porta-potties, etc.  But I know these vounteers didn’t work Friday.  Their inability to get past the rock slide is why the race was cancelled.  Never mind they could have driven a back route along Hwy 285 and Guanella Pass.  These mercenaries weren’t as committed as us runners.  I won’t dwell on this.  It’s not constructive.  I do think Paul could at least promote a discount for next year’s event.  What are your thoughts on race directors who don’t provide even partial refunds?  Or on “paid” volunteers?