This is a little race held out in Copperton each year in honor of Nick Yengich, who was my wife's uncle. One of her other uncle's, Ron, is the charismatic figure behind the event. It has been going on for 20+ years. The focus is much, much, much more on the cameraderie amongst the families of those honored and people who run it every year than on the race experience (it would no doubt fail every one of Sasha's criteria, and almost intentionally so). But it is a race nonetheless. I've run it just once before and it was cold, snowy, and very windy. Just like this year! The race had a lot going for it, however, including an 11am start time which is very generous and kind if you're going to hold a race the first weekend of December. Also, there is a unique opportunity to literally run in the shadow of the worlds largest open pit copper mine. I think Runner's World did a "Rave Run" piece on that several years ago, or maybe that was Sequoia National Park. Anyway, it is unique. It is the near the former site of Bingham Canyon (from whence the Yengich clan spawned), which has been obliterated and is now part of the mine. I wish the town were still there and inhabited as that sounds like it was a world of its own that created some of the heartiest, liveliest, and most hardworking people this state has known. So, yeah, there was a race and I was the only guy wearing shorts, which pretty much singled me out as the guy that was taking way too seriously a race that all but a few others were doing as a pleasant diversion from getting on a ladder to hang Christmas lights from the rain gutters. But it was a nice tempo run. Although billed as 5k, the course has never been properly measured and has shrunk as the gate to the mine entrance that marks the turnaround point has moved closer to the start each year or two. Unfortunately, I didn't start my Garmin at the beginning of the race so I can't say how short it is, and I don't really care. It was probably 2.6-2.7. It was long enough for me to be glad when it was over.
I received two prizes, one was a figurine of Lou Gherig delivering his famous "luckiest man" speech. (The race was run in honor of two people that died from ALS this year). I also received a copy of Judge Andrew Valdez's autobiographical book about his life growing up and the many challenges he overcame. He was in the field of runners, along with federal judge Dee Benson, so I felt it was my duty as an officer of the court to try to run reasonably well. I cooled down on the course, enjoyed the cold cold morning.
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