At today's Monmouth Season Opener, as rain pelted down and wind whipped and umbrellas proved feckless, someone asked me a question: "Pete, what are the worst conditions you can remember for a track meet?"
After a long day in terrible conditions, I didn't have to think for too many seconds. Was today the worst day ever? I'm sure there have been worse; I'm sure Coach Emeritus Phil Kelly could possibly recall an equally miserable day. Coach Terry Horton, who has been caught standing out in more than a few rain storms in his half-decade in the sport, recounted the Metropolitan Outdoor meet of three years ago as a similarly terrible day. But alas, I happened to be flying back from Mt. SAC at the time and did not experience that sleet and wind on another miserable New Jersey Saturday.
There was no sleet or snow today, but pretty much everything else. Just when it seemed like it might get better, it got worse. And, as if Mother Nature decided to flip us one more bird for good measure, in the final event of the long day -- the women's 4x400 relay, as our tough anchor leg Molly Weeks was heading toward the finish, a brutal gust of rain-swept wind literally turned her face sideways. Coach Horton and I were recalling this on the musty bus ride home; it was as though, after the endless winter, it was one last jab at us all. You want this meet to end? Hahahaha, NOT YET!
Perhaps we'll get to exhale next week. Perhaps we will get sunny and warm conditions down at Colonial Relays. We can only hope ...
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