Running Down: 2013 Umstead Marathon Mascot

This years mascot floats happily on a half pint of pale ale
- photo by Scott Lynch

Lame Duck
As you know by now, the Umstead Marathon Conclave chose the duck as this year's mascot.
Oh, sure, the duck is perfectly adequate. But it's not what the Umstead faithful had been hoping for. We wanted something special for the 10th.
We wanted the conclave to finally concede that the opossum is the rightful heir to the Umstead throne.

Many runners naively enjoyed the duck mascot.
Here, Lance Bollinger feeds it to his child.
- photo courtesy Helen Bac

Don't mess with The Conclave
Why duck?
Well, unfortunately, because of us.
Apparently The Conclave has become aware of our little handicapping operation here and are none too happy. After Josh prognosticated the tick in 2011, and I scientifically calculated the bat last year, they were enraged. They felt the mystique of their little cult had been threatened.

So they spitefully denied the opossum it's destiny. They also shut out our entire list of other qualified candidates: coyote, deer, spider, horse, snake... Snake! I mean, come on, how can you deny snake!
Apparently they were so mad, there were calls to make me the mascot, placing my decapitated head on a squirrel.
This is an absolutely brutal and ruthless regime, folks.

The People's Possum
But the people will not be oppressed like this.
Ethan Caldwell and Megan Sullivan decided to fight this injustice, and took it upon themselves to put the Opossum in it's rightful place. They made this protest shirt, which I proudly wore:

photo by Jay Spadie

What Now?
Do we rise up and make our own shirts? Or hell, put on our own race?
Do I try to volunteer and become part of the Conclave, giving up the privilege of running The Umstead Marathon? Whoa! Let's not get all crazy now.

I guess we just have to quit our Mascotology operation, and give in to the dictatorship of The Conclave.

So no more trying to pick the mascot. But wait...