Cornell Reunion Run

It was another rainy, cold (41 degrees!) June Saturday morning here in Interlaken and we all got up super early so we could leave the house by 6:15 to get down to Ithaca for the 7:30am Reunion Run at Cornell. It was my 10th Reunion and I figured this would be a fun way to get in my weekend run.

There were about 80 people who braved the elements for this event and, surprisingly, it turned out to be fun. The 5-mile course was fairly scenic, looping through the Plantations and ending up with a lap around the track at Schoellkopf Field, home to Cornell's football, field hockey and men's lacrosse teams.

During the race I ran by the Class of 1901 Nut Tree Collection but didn't see any nuts. But I did run by several Tulip Poplar trees in bloom. I'd always thought that the tulip-shaped leaves were what gave the tree its name but evidently it's the orange and yellow tulip-like flowers which I had never seen but which I thought were quite beautiful.

What I found most amazing is that I didn't have to walk at all in this race. For 5 miles! Up some steep hills! I don't know how I managed it but I have to think that my usual 3-mile run involving the big uphill must have something to do with it.

And I finished in 58 minutes and 30 seconds, faster (by 38 seconds) than the 5-mile Lowell Spinners race from two weeks ago.

Larsson, Nora and I are pictured above after the end of the race. We were all wet and freezing, Larsson's eyes are closed, and there are obvious raindrops in the picture but I think we all had fun.