Cinci Wolf Pack: 9/17/11 Caesars

First, a public service announcement.

You can dooo-it! All our welcome and encouraged to attend – no matter if you haven’t run above 3miles in years, are as large as the English Elk, as slow as ‘short-distance’ Safi, or as old as ‘bronzed & bare-chested’ Bob. The group wants to reiterate you don’t need to be a long-distance runner to attend.

If you like the outdoors and ever had a ‘Winning’ spirit, you surely can offer to integrate some sort of obstacle into the event that you excel in. The pack is hungry for new challenges (and to quote the Iron Wolf: fresh meat). You’ll see from below’s recap that our diverse group works well creating a light-hearted atmosphere for adventure, shooting the shit and burning/consuming some calories.

Now in the spirit of the Pack, it’s time to throw down a challenge to those ‘viewers’ who’ve been on the distribution list (and the side-lines) for the past 9 weeks. For the next several weeks, we’ll be calling you out in our emails until you attend at least one event. After that, you’ll be cut-off from our recaps. No more supporting you coyotes –as coyotes roam alone . . . it’s time to stop scrounging on the recap distribution leftovers and join the pack’s hunt.

Now on to the 9/17 recap . . .

It started out as a scene from a movie . . . Lukens Rd. . a one lane, overgrown and unmarked country rode evoking acoustic notes from the banjos of Deliverance (or to the wild, wonderful WV wolf, just smelled like apple pie and home). Although displayed on the Park Map as an official parking lot, it was a ditch at best. Regardless, a record total of 9 wolves found their way into the hunt.

We had 2 new attendees – both fresh off planes from across the pond (so Soccer coyote’s excuse of needing to sleep in from a long work week sounds pretty weak). The first newbie was another super-sized English muffin visiting for Pete’s wedding (what do they pack into those curds & whey?). Similar to the English Elk, Dave is a 6’4” 250lb solid Clydesdale who has little interest in long runs. However, he has the wolf spirit and given our staged approach to place fitness challenge ‘breaks’ every mile or so, his heart rate monitor only rose to a pleasant 182 and he completed the full course happy to have joined the Yankees. Again, testament that we’re not all lean & lengthy Lustigs or marathon Malloy’s. Besides, you coyotes had to meet some physically-capable criteria to be referred to this distribution (with the exception of Lucas – we saw him run in the dog costume and thought he’d be a good target).

The second newbie gives further credence to Darwinism. We haven’t yet found a genetic break in the Winkler species. Papa Cub had just returned that night from Scotland. Although lacking warrior paint, you’d have thought he had come from the highland games, showing no signs of backing down. Rawhide Ron was comfortable spurring on the front of the pack, even volunteering a turn at the backpack.

Attendees: Iron Wolf Burgio, the Sensitive Matt in his baby blues or now known as ‘stupid, stumbling shoes’, the mean Matt, the English Elk, the Didn’t-stop Dave, the Cub, She-Wolf, Papa Cub, and the yet to be nicknamed Tong – I noticed that he seamlessly glides within the pack with little effort – thus avoiding mocking or head-to-head challenge . . . hmm, we need to fasten a bulls-eye on him next week.

The Event

Stage 1: Another strong start by the Cub, again donning the 15lb back-pack. About 1mile of rolling trail, milder than the hills near the visitor center.

1^st Fitness challenge (FC): 2min pushups. I don’t have the count handy, but everyone seemed to have improved. And damn if the Cub didn’t beat me by 2 again (109 vs 107).

Stage 2: Another mile of woods before opening up to prairie at the Pioneer Village.

2^nd FC: a modified WWII challenge – Burpees (stand, drop hands to feet, kick feet back into push-up position, jump feet back to hands, explode straight up jumping into the air. Within 60 seconds: Cub 29, Mull 29, Tong 26, (need datapoints from others).

Stage 3: Another mile of woods, mini-gorge overlooks, and creek crossing before opening into the dam overflow/fossil field.

Stage 4: Return same route to the Pioneer Village.

3^rd FC: Field sprints. The Matts started off the competition. The Sensitive one had great form . . . I should know, I had a good view during the final 20 yards - crossing the finish line backwards. Next round included most everyone. A final round saw a burst of lightning as The Elk unleashed his sprint power and took first place, even ahead of the Cub.

Stage 5: Two miles back to the cars . . . then on to a wide selection of beers. Gotta love the rehydration.