2012 Umstead Marathon Mascotolgy

It's that time of year again, when we provide our expert prognostication and rank the potential candidates for this year's upcoming Umstead Marathon mascot.

As you know, the mascot changes every year, and is kept secret until the day before the race. For details on how the mascot is selected see the post from last year.

2010 - Year of the Bunny

2010

• That year, we thought the best choice would be a deer. 
• But we deduced that "The Conclave" was working their way through the animal kingdom and the next logical animal would be an opossum. 
• This prediction did not pan out, as 2010 was the Year of the bunny.

2011 - Year of the Tick

2011

• Last year, we considered  opossum once again, as well as a snake and a horse. 
• We went with Deer as our odds-on favorite due to its park presence.
• SometimesBareFoot Josh proved to be the expert mascotologist by correctly naming the Tick to be the 2011 mascot.

2012
Here we are approaching the ninth running of the Umstead Marathon, and we have eight mascots behind us: Horse Fly, Flying Squirrel , Turtle, Fish, Turkey Vulture, Frog, Hare, and Tick. No obvious pattern has emerged, so we are left to judge potential candidates based on the following parameters::

Park Presence - How common is the animal in the park?
Runspiration - How much does the animal inspire a person to run?
Silhouettability - How well could the animal be made into a plaque?
Logotimidation - How cool would the mascot look on a t-shirt and a pint glass?
Intangibles- Has something similar been used before? Is it representative of the Umstead Experience?

Each quality will be judged quantitatively and scored on a scale of 1-10.

I took an informal poll on facebook and got a list of 10 candidates which I will review:

Spider
Presence	In the summer? Oh yes. Not so much in the winter	8
Runspiration	Getting a face full of spiderweb can put a damper on a trail run.	2
Silhouettability	They managed to do the legs pretty well on the tick, but I'm not sure about another one with pipe cleaners	5
Logotimidation	Could possibly usurp The Tick for coolest race shirt. I look forward to the day I can use these phases: "Today I'm breaking out The Spider-Shirt" "Pour me a cold one in my Spider-Pint"	9
Intangibles	We just had an arachnid last year.	2
	Total Score	26

Deer
Presence	When you think about animals in Umstead, Deer are the first to come to mind. In 2008, the marathon briefly came to a halt as a herd stampeded across Graylyn.	10
Runspiration	A deer flying through the woods is the ultimate trail runner	9
Silhouettability	It would be difficult, but if they could carve the antlers it would be freaking awesome.	6
Logotimidation	A majestic deer with a huge rack posing with his head turned? Or maybe leaping across the front of the shirt? Could be an instant classic.	7
Intangibles	I was told by a member of the conclave that a deer would NEVER be the mascot because it had long been a symbol of The Uwharrie Mountain Run. However it seems the last few years, the Uwharrie folks have abandoned this. Is it open season yet on Deer mascots?	0
	Total Score	32

Copperhead Snake
Presence	Depends on who you ask. I have seen a lot snakes in Umstead, but don't think any were copperheads.  Others will say that they are slithering through the trees a foot deep like in the Egyptian tomb in Raiders of the Lost Ark	6
Runspiration	I have witnessed more than a few people running through Umstead screaming "COPPERHEAD!"	9
Silhouettability	This is tricky. If it was long and stretched out it be a pretty fragile plaque. On the other hand if it was coiled up, it would kind of look like a pile of poo..	3
Logotimidation	A snake would be a pretty intimidating logo. All wrapped around the lettering? I'm sold.	8
Intangibles	They could put any snake on the t-shirt. A common water snake or rat snake. Or even a cobra. But in NC, it would still be a copperhead. Just like all soda is "coke".	5
	Total Score	31

Bear
Image stupidly stolen from the LawyersUSA website.
Presence	Apparently they do appear on a sign enumerating the park wildlife, but I don't think a bear has been seen in Umstead in a long time.	3
Runspiration	You can't outrun a bear. Play dead.	3
Silhouettability	Yes it would be easy to carve and recognize, but it would look like cheesy mountain-cabin-gift-store kitsch.	6
Logotimidation	It seems that bear imagery belongs to more  mountainous locations. Plus even if they didn't put a ranger hat on the bear, I think I would still see Smokey.	3
Intangibles	There is already a race called "The Bear"	3
	Total Score	18

Coyote
Source.
Presence	They are elusive, but Shannon and I have both seen them in the park.	6
Runspiration	If you can't be the deer, be the coyote chasing him!	7
Silhouettability	Good, but might be hard to distinguish from a dog.	5
Logotimidation	Something like the image above would nice change from the meek mascots we have had so far. Finally, a predator! Or they could go the Wile E Coyote route...	7
Intangibles	Even if they are in the park, "coyote" has a more of a Southwest vibe to it. It would seem out of place on an Umstead Pint.	3
	Total Score	28

Horse Dung
Presence	Hard to miss.	10
Runspiration	Hard to imagine something less inspiring	1
Silhouettability	The plaque would be easy to carve, but it might take some explaining when you show  it to people.	5
Logotimidation	I think this would be a very polarizing topic, between those who appreciate irony and those who do not.  Split the difference.	5
Intangibles	Nothing says Umstead Bridle Trail like a pile of road apples.	8
	Total Score	29

Crayfish
Presence	I'm sure they are in there somewhere, but runners aren't likely to see them	5
Runspiration	Maybe if it was a 20 foot mutant crawling down the trail. Hey there are those PCB's in the lake...	2
Silhouettability	Yikes	2
Logotimidation	Would look too much like an ad for a seafood restaurant	2
Intangibles	Crustacean would be a good subphylum to cross off the list, and we are due for another aquatic creature.	5
	Total Score	16

Opossum
Presence	Rarely seen during the day, though I have heard of runners encountering them on the trail.	7
Runspiration	Their slow, comically waddling gait hardly inspires running... except for maybe ultra-marathoners	3
Silhouettability	Not sure if the silhouette would we be easily recognizable, and the tail would be problematic. Got to give it a 3... UNLESS... the tail was a rope!  And the plaque hung by it! Can you see that?	6
Logotimidation	A snarling, beady-eyed Opossum with its long bare tail would be pretty bad-ass	8
Intangibles	Come on! Marsupial is due! On the other hand, we pick this EVERY year.	8
	Total Score	32

Stegosaurus
Sorry	I'm not going to dignify this with a response	0
	Total Score	0

Other nominees:

• Cicada - Might be too soon for another bug, I think.
• Turkey - Just had Turkey Vulture in 2008
• Beaver- Hmmmm. This seems plausible, but this post is already way too long.
• Raccoon- This would be another good one, but maybe too much like a Squirrel 
• Duck - Would be disappointing

Finally, the Running-Down pick for the 2012 Umstead Mascot is... 

Drum roll, please...

Bat
Presence	Watch carefully at dusk.	6
Runspiration	Agghh! There is one stuck in your hair! Run, run!	4
Silhouettability	Would be the most coveted plaque ever.	10
Logotimidation	Bats are just fricking cool, period.	8
Intangibles	I can't say why but I when I look at the previous mascots, it seems like a bat should be next. On the other hand we did already have a flying squirrel. (Though it looked more like road kill.) Too soon for another flying mammal?	5
	Total Score	33

Just barely edging out the perennial Opossum pick and the tainted Deer by a single point, the Bat comes out on top in our expert analysis.

On Friday, March 2nd, the Conclave will reveal their mascot choice.
So come back here on that day to read our gloating, told-you-so post celebrating the Year of the Bat!

UPDATE 3/4/2012

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner:

Now, the mascot for 2013 will be...