What is it about the rain that you never get used to it? I've lived in Seattle since I was about 5 years old but the long periods of overcast and light misting or "Seattle rain" as we call it, never get any easier. Worst of all is watching people try and drive in the rain. You would think living in a place where rain is pretty much a given 80% of the time or so people would be experts. But every time it rains during the morning commute you're assured an extra 10-30 minutes of drive time to get there. Either by the constant brake lights as people worry they'll hydroplane on a puddle, or by an accident occurring from people losing all common sense and acting like the droplets of liquid falling from the sky are the first sign of the Apocalypse and God engulfing the world in yet another flood.
Even more comical is the refusal of Seattleites to do any sort of outdoor activity on a day that the sun is not radiating from the sky and technically classified as unusually warm. We're as vitamin D deficient as a cave man. Try passing off a fake and bake tan in this town as natural without being immediately discovered as a liar. Outside of the month of August if you dare sport a tan expect to be asked routinely "so where did you just fly in from?"
It's a funny phenomenon then that Seattle has a fairly large running community. Almost any weekend you want you can find some sort of sponsored run to benefit this or that cause... or in some cases just for the sake of an excuse to gather around a shared interest. One of my favorites I've heard of is the chocolate lovers run. I believe it was an 8K where instead of having energy goo and water at different intervals along the run, they had pit stops for chocolaty treats. Or the 5K sponsored by Top Pot doughnuts. I was disappointed when I learned that one was a weekend I would be out of town. What other time could I eat one of their decadent masterpieces, which are described as being like crack to the doughnut lover, without feeling extreme gilt over the knowledge of how calorie laden the carb loaded treat is?
I was wondering today as my friends and I ditched out on a run we were signed up for, exactly what percent of people who sign up for these runs actually participate? I would imagine the planners of these events must see a drastic drop in attendance based on the weather report. Perhaps organizers with pre-paid admittance fees to some of the more popular runs spend the prior evening attempting a rain dance in the hopes of a more manageable crowd. In all honesty I wouldn't be surprised to hear that for some races there is only 50% or less attendance of pre-registered runners.
I suppose I should feel more than just a little guilt over not attending the run this morning. Truly it is a story of cowardice for a person who has grown up around this kind of weather. But despite the fact that I had woken up early and prepared, I still supported my friends decision to keep on driving past the exit to the race as we looked at the long line of cars waiting on the freeway to exit, and the rain beating down on the windshield. So instead of running the 8K and attempting to "Beat the Bridge" before it went up, we sat nice and dry inside a Top Pot doughnuts sipping coffee. Then proceeded over to a friends house after the race traffic had cleared out to have brunch and drink mimosas. But really, who can stand the feeling of having wet feet?
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