Extinction Run III 3/4/23

Extinction Run – Three!  The best weather yet!

The weather was threatening rain late in the week but looked to be staying away from Saturday.  Or did it?  Even with rain late in the day Friday the course was still in good shape on race day.

Fifty-Two runners plus an unsuspecting neighbor out for a sad clown run found themselves participating in Extinction Run III for the benefit of Strong Like AK.   The weather was great, and the runners were ready.  Here is how it went.

Run format: One mile run against the clock; one mile at a time. Each loop begins and ends at Primal Brewery. From the start the first mile must be completed within the 13-minute time limit. The second mile cannot be started until after the 13-minute mark. Second mile pace and each mile following are reduced by 15 seconds. Mile two must be completed within 12:45 time limit, mile three within 12:30 and so on. Runner must meet the time limit to proceed to the next mile.

We started with a quick welcome, a very brief disclaimer and we were ready to go.  Forty-some runners toed the line at the start.  One rolling the course and another running on all fours.  Gotta show to know!  Off we go!  Some runners sped through the first lap and other paced themselves for a long event.  A quick reset of the timer and we were off for lap number two. A couple of miles in we lost a few of our runners.  The Extinction Run Cheer Dino came out to egg on the runners and lead the spectators in the chicken dance.  This is not just a run its a family event!

The kids under 12 division wrapped up after the four-mile mark.  The women’s division pushed to 20 miles and the men pushed even farther through 24 miles.  Their last lap was at a 7:15 pace.  That might not sound fast to some of you bat flippers but when its your 24th mile, that is fast!  Two guys came down from F3 MeCa to challenge the GasHouse runners.  When Landlord and Phidippeds checked in I knew we were in trouble.  YHC knows both of these guys and knew when they signed up we were going to be here a while.  Mile fifteen hits and the field although smaller looks very strong.  Two women on the course and four or five men if my memory serves me.  At mile 17 & 18 Flintstone had the look of determination on his face that he was going to chase these guys right out of Gaston County.  On mile 19 the clock caught Flintstone and on mile 20 the clock caught our top women’s runner.   Landlord and Phidippeds sped through four more miles until they threw in the towel.  So, in a gentlemens blind draw Landlord took home first and Phidippeds second. YHC believes Landlord had one more mile in him so the medals went to the right hands.

This brought Extinction Run III to a close. Great job by everyone!

Here are your winners!

PAX
1st Place = Landlord (MeCa PAX)
2nd Place = Phidippeds (MeCa Pax)
3rd Place = Flintstone

Women’s
1st Place = Lanna Kwon
2nd Place = Stephanie Fox (M Norwood)
3rd Place = Raquel Cedeno (M Orangeman)

Kids 12 & Under
1st Place = Phelps (Norwood 2.0)
2nd Place = Cruz Surrat (Freon 2.0)
3rd Place = Cara Surrat (Freon 2.0)

Due to the length of the race our medal ceremony was broken up into smaller pieces as runners and their families had to move on with their other weekend plans.  Next, we pulled the winning 50/50 ticket. The 50/50 pot grew to $231.  The winning ticket would take home $115.  Musicbox pulled Little Caesar’s (Roscoe 2.0) winning ticket and with a nod to his old man Little Caesar had Musicbox toss his winnings back into the Extinction Run pot for Strong Like AK!  Way to go Little Caesar!

Thanks to Primal for opening early and letting us take over their brewery and parking lot.  Thank you to our volunteers!  Eh Yall!, Mainframe, Mayor, MusicBox and Roscoe.  With their help and the generous donations from our PAX and families we raised $1,060.00 for Strong Like AK!

Hope enjoyed it.  Until we do it again!
BOS