Godiva President's Column for March

Good For What Ails You

One thing that makes Godiva special is our celebration and support of runners of all types. A manifestation of this support is our “handicapped” Winter Series races, which aim to get everyone involved regardless of running speed. A handicapped race is one where a head start is given to runners who are born with a physical defect, such as being female or old. Here are the current Winter Series races which provide a handicap:

• The Geezer Pleezer gives head starts based on age and gender.
• The Eno Equalizer has time handicaps based on a very complex statistical formula developed by Dr. Richard Smith which takes into account ALL of your past races, your BMI, your genetic code, and your Google search history.
• The Run For Donuts levels the playing field with the “Donut Index”, which I think is based on how many donuts you ate that morning.
• The Misery Run gives an advantage to those who are ignorant of what they are running through.

I often hear members say that these races are their favorite Godiva events. So why not have more of them?

And why stop at just age and gender? Why not give head starts to runners who suffer from other limitations?

I propose adding eight more handicapped races to the Winter Series! Here are the new proposed races:

Wheezer Sneezer

The Race:  A ten mile run through Umstead sometime in May, at the peak of pollen season.

The Handicap: Runners with tree allergies get a 5 minute hard start. Those with asthma  get 10.

Hard Climb Ladder

The Race: Runners race to the roof of a three story building up shaky 30 foot ladders.

The Handicap:  Runners with acrophobia (like myself) get a 12 hour head start.

New Year's Day Hangover Helper

Happy New Year!

The Race: An 8K in Duke Forest just like our other New Year’s day run, but this one is held at 6 am.

Handicap: Runners are given head starts and doses of aspirin that are proportional to their BAC (Blood Alcohol Content).

The Eno Calculator

The Race: Runners sit in the picnic shelter at Eno River State Park and take an exam on “Time Series and Multivariate Analysis” given by statistics professor Richard Smith, Phd.

The Handicap: Runners are given handicapped head starts based on their SAT math scores.

The Run For Bagels

The Race:  Inspired by the Donut Run and the Krispy Kreme challenge, teams of 3 runners do 5 loops around Durham Academy XC course.  At the start of each loop they must choke down a bagel covered in peanut butter.

The Handicap: Teams comprised of gluten intolerant runners get a 5 minute head start. Teams with peanut allergies get 10 minutes.

Myopia March

The Race: A 20 mile point to point run on the Uwharrie trail, held in late fall when the trail is covered in leaves.

The Handicap: Runners leave their glasses and contacts at home, but receive generous head starts based on their corrective vision prescription. We will have a lot of fun squinting for distant fuzzy white blazes and buried rocks. This may require volunteer search parties the next day or two to look for runners who have wandered off the trail.

Milk Mile

The Race: 4 loops around a 400m track, you must down a pint of milk after each loop

The Handicap: Lactose intolerant folks do not get a head start, but they do get their own porta-potty.

Feeble Pleezer

The Race: A full marathon held in Umstead Park

The Handicap: Runners are given a 1 minute head start for every $1000 in medical bills spent on running injuries the previous year.