Sun, Dec 9 2007 - The 25th Anniversary Egg Nog Jog (View Original Event Details)
|  |
The Egg Nog Jog is a yearly fundraiser for the Georgetown runners. It's a 10.8K race in the Terra Cotta Conservation Area. The Egg Nog Jog celebrated its 25th anniversary with over 500 racers, the largest in its history.
Matt invited me, Lillian, who has no interest in running, much less running in COLD weather and snow, to be the official photographer and writer for the event. This is how I found myself freezing on one cold Sunday morning instead of sleeping in. Since running in the cold is rarely anyone's idea of a good time, Matt decided to make things "interesting." He announced to the group that I would go home with the first TOCer to cross the finish line.
Oh, the atmosphere was tense! Who would it be? Matt -- the favorite to win as he was familiar with the course having ran it in previous years? Alex -- the youngest male of the group? Heather -- the newest TOCer, a black horse? Or Darrel -- a long shot with his leg injury?
It turned out that Darrel was a ringer. Before the race, he said that he had suffered some injury to his leg and had been unable to run. He trained by climbing stairs. Rather than gimping along as you might expect, he beat Matt by mere seconds. So it seemed as if I would be going home with Darrel.
Heather had to leave right after the race, so the four of us went to the covered tent to get egg nog (can't have an Egg Nog Jog without egg nog!), apples, bananas, bagels, fruit smoothie, and minestrone. Hot soup tastes really good when you're cold.
After warming up, Matt drove us back to Toronto via the scenic route. We took a leisurely drive through Mansion Row, where we vainly tried to see palatial homes that were hidden behind large gates. The drive was made especially fun with ice on the hills and Matt carefully navigated his car down. "This is what I call a controlled fall," he said.
During this drive, I discovered that Darrel had used an "illegal" external motivation device, known as "the snowflake." While he was running the course, a group of runners covered in large hand-cut snowflakes came to him and offered him one. Right after he took it, his energy level went up, and he immediately ran faster. I disqualified his win right then and there and declared Matt the winner. Official results can be seen here.
Disclaimer: Since we're not *that* kind of club, my being a prize was only a joke. And I can truthfully say that Matt did not take me to his place afterwards.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.