Dear Red Flannel Run

We need to talk. I have come to realize that we have a strange, perhaps unhealthy, relationship. There are strong reasons that I should move on from you to other races. Yet, there are also compelling ones that would keep me with you.

How did we get to this place? It started easily enough. You were an enticing race that caught my eye. First time was a bit awkward, with a few inches of snow. But sharing that experience was enough to bring me back. Then it was subzero temps. The following year, you came in with ice all over your course. You took it too far last with -20 temps and were rescheduled. All of that should have been a warning. But no, I signed up again for today’s polar wind chill.

Why do I let you do this to me? On the plus side, you are the first race of the new year in central Iowa. That means an opportunity to catch up with other runners and make new connections all inside a warm YMC A before and after the race. Another attractive aspect is that you’re only a 5K, which makes it a nice way to break in for the other races in the coming months. Given those two factors alone, it’s no wonder we find each other every second Saturday in February.

But that where this starts to go wrong. You take place in mid-February. In Iowa. I’m a pathetic, deluded fool if I really expect the weather to be anything remotely close to pleasant. Sub-zero wind chill. Ice. Snow. You’ve going to offer all that to me without any regard to whether I’m ready for it or not. Oh, you play the victim, claiming it’s not your doing. But with temperatures plummeting from the low 40’s yesterday to a soul-chilling 2 degrees at race time today, you know exactly what you’re doing to me.

I paid for it too. My race time of 21:45 was disappointing. That 7:00 pace would be a slow half marathon under good conditions. As my fingers throbbed in the numbing cold with an unforgiving wind cutting through my exposed face, I find myself realizing there are other races who would not do this to me. I may have to wait a few weeks or another month or so, but wouldn’t that be much healthier for me?

So Red Flannel, we are at a crossroads. Today’s race serves as a good reason for me to move on to healthier races, with more supportive temperatures. Races where I’m not dodging ice or saving my sprint for the dash to get inside a warm building. Then again, there is that enticing, almost forbidden anticipation about your email inviting me to sign up for you. There are so many races willing to treat me so much better, but when I see that wild design on your t-shirts, somehow logic escapes me.

Red Flannel, where do we go from here?