Runners participate in Living History Farms race
Over 7000 runners participated in the Living History Farm Cross Country Race yesterday in Urbandale. The living history farms race is no ordinary race. Runners who participate in this 7 mile race end up going through 6 different creek crossings, up several steep muddy hills, dodge the occasional deer, all while enduring temperatures in the low to mid 30’s. This year was no different with the temperature being at about 40 degrees at the start of the race. Like usual, the first 2-3 miles were easy in flat. As soon as you passed the 3 mile mark, you entered the woods and came upon your first creek crossing. As in some previous years, the creeks had a little bit of ice cover on them by the time the first runners got to them. The feeling of icicles jabbing into your leg was what greeted you when you jumped into the creeks.
As runners climbed out of the first creek, most were probably thinking “why am I doing this?”. As the runners progressed further into the race, they came upon their first hill to climb up. By this time the hills were completely covered in mud and had water flowing down the sides of them as if it was pouring rain. As runners struggled to get up the hill, other fellow runners helped them out, catching them if they were about to fall, and pulling them up the last few steps at the top of the hill. The race continued like this until the last mile where runners encountered one more large hill before finishing in the middle of the historic living history farms. At the end of the race, residents were greeted with the wonderful smell of homemade beef stew from the machine shed as well as doughnuts and other treats.
Runners from all over look forward to this race each year with one runner saying at the end “this is by far my favorite race of the year. I look forward to it because I don’t have to worry about my time or place since this is just a fun run. I enjoy doing this race with my friends and I can’t wait until next year for this race.” According to final race results showed 29 Oskaloosa residents participating with one resident, Matt Whitis, recording a quick 57:07 finish. Final results of the race can be found by clicking HERE. If you have any questions or clarifications, please contact us at info@oskynews.org.
