McCoy v Hatfield

Ran the McCoy/Hatfield marathon yesterday. Couple things. First a little about signing up for the race. They do a fun thing every year by assigning each runner that runs to a team (Hatfield or McCoy) and whichever team has a better cumulative time wins. A few weeks after signing up, I checked the website and noticed that i was placed on to team Hatfield. Unacceptable! My mom's maiden name is McCoy and i had to represent the family.

So i gave a call to the race director, David Hatfield. I informed him that I would like to be switched from team Hatfield to team McCoy. Now you would think that a race like this that pokes fun of the feud and even goes so far as to assign the runners to a family would have a good sense of humor about this whole subject. But i apparently hit a nerve with D. Hatfield. He asked me (unironically) why i would want to switch and made a huge deal about it. After hemming and hawing he said he would make the change if he had the time and wasn't too busy. Thanks Hatfield. I heard nothing from him for months and sent a follow up email. No response. Feud back on.

I get an email months later from David Hatfield's wife. Responding to my follow up email, she informs me that the change had been made. I was now on team McCoy. There was one detail that she found confounding however. She had always thought that the name 'Adam' was a male name. The Adam Burke she saw signed up (now as a McCoy) was a female. I did the math. David Hatfield switched me to team McCoy and then passive-aggressively also stripped me of my manhood. Thanks Hatfield. Feud escalating.

I performed a search on the registrants area of the website and could not find my name. I responded to lady Hatfield and was told that my name had been switched to Adam McCoy-Burke. I had been branded. War declared.

All in all good times though. The race itself was actually really great. And by great i mean horribly difficult. It was hot and humid, hilly and curvy, rainy and thundery, sticky and sweltery, and rocky and craggy. Really tough course. I feel like an idiot, but i really thought it wouldn't be that hilly. The hill at mile 23 was a groin punch from David Hatfield. It was the smallest marathon i've done in a while and it makes me remember why i really like the small ones. No fanfare, no perks, just you, the road, and the competition. I got 5th place in the marathon. I might have been able to get 4th, but decided to hold up at mile 25 to see if i could run with someone for support. Didn't work out great, but still happy with 5th.

Now its time to set my gaze firmly on triathlons. First you get fast, then you go long. that is the strategy building to the national championships in October. First up, a sprint in 6 days. oh man.