Here in we are in Spokane on the eve of what is probably going to be a wet, windy and wintery XC meet for the USATF Club Cross Country Championships.
It looks like we are going to have a complete men's masters team and men's open team. We've lost one man on each of those teams; but, fortunately we had enough depth to still field teams (5 open men running, 6 masters men).
On the women's side, we had enough people choose not to chance the drive that we don't have teams for either open or master's. In the end, it appears as though we'll have two open women and two master's women. But, we aren't going to know for certain until the morning. There are a few people who are planning to come over in the morning; so, we'll have to wait and see how that shakes out.
Alan King and I drove over and arrived about 2:00 p.m. Spokane time. Roads were dry and clear all the way to about 30 miles out of Spokane. Then we hit the big fluffy snowflakes. Actually, the ride over this morning was quite pretty. Clear, crisp skies from Butte to Drummond. From Missoula to Lookout pass the fog and cold air inversions left the pine and larch trees coated in silvery ice. It was actually quite a pretty drive.
Things are a bit different here in Spokane Valley. The temp isn't bad right now - right around freezing. But, we've seen snow and rain and the course is likely to be a bit soggy. When we toured the course just before dark, it was a blanket of white, wet snow.
The prediction for tonight is for snow (up to 6"). Temps are expect to be high 20's - then as the wind picks up, the temps will likely drop during the day. It's likely to make for some interesting racing and some challenges on clothing selection.
But, the BSDP runners are excited and ready to go.
Check back in the morning for a race day weather update.
I'll also try to update the site with some reports post-race (and prior to the post race imbibing).
Till tomorrow
The Muddy Buzzard
XC Rules
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