A Time for Traditions
I love routine. Many runners do. The predictable hum of our day to day, week to week, and year to year. There’s a kind of comfort in the steady rhythm at the heart of routine. As 2023 draws to a close, I am appreciating the routine that rounds out another year for the Platte River Fitness Series. There are the final two races, often two of the largest events of the year. Even worrying about the precarity of the weather is part of the groove I get into at the end of every year. It’s just part of the script. There are the much-anticipated point standings ready for review, the yearlong offering from Doris Davis’s generous gift of time, the magic spreadsheet that is the manifestation of everyone’s efforts. There is award planning, invitations to the Night of Champions to design and send and preparations to honor the tenacity, the dedication, and the commitment of our PRFS family, its sponsors and its volunteers. There is the virtual challenge to get ready to keep everyone connected and moving in the dark cold months to come. It occurs to me this holiday season that the end of each year is less about routine and more about tradition. Tradition is worthy of our attention. Tradition is grounding and directional. It tells us where we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to go. It tells us who we are.
Years ago, when talking with a friend, that friend who calls you out when you “misspeak” (a.k.a. Mark Cullinan), I postulated that maybe the Points Competition wasn’t necessary, and my friend said, “It’s all about the points, stupid!” Now that’s a good friend. It is about the points and what they represent. The points represent possibility and promise. They acknowledge our potential and the belief that we have potential and that these bodies of ours have potential is a superpower. It is a superpower we all need to flourish. The points also represent proximity. If one just keeps at it, keeps coming, is willing to be challenged, is willing to get uncomfortable, the points add up. And, they add up whether an athlete takes a single medal home from any race. It just takes staying close and showing up. When I look back on all of this someday, one of the things that will mean the most to me, the thing I once was ready to dismiss, is the possibility that someone who may have never done an athletic thing in their lives, a person who never made the varsity squad or received any accolade in sports can, just by virtue of showing up and continuing to show up, end the year as a champion. Every PRFS athlete is worthy of that promise and possibility.
The year-to-date points results are on the website and will be updated again after the final two races. It is so important that everyone goes to the website and checks their points. Every entrant earns points, so Doris tracks thousands of unique athletes. It would be nearly impossible not to make errors. Sometimes athletes use a different version of their name or get married. Some folks have misspelled their own name when registering. Please make note of a couple of things that are very important to your points total. First, if you celebrated an age group change this year, you are still placed in the age group you were in at the beginning of the year. Second, remember that we love to give out medals, so we pull the overall winners from their age group to allow another athlete to earn a medal. The overall winners do in fact win their age group, so they receive first place points in their age group for the Points Competition. If the overall winner for a particular race was in your age group, and you received the first-place medal at the race, for the points competition, you would receive second place points. Also remember that the mile does not accrue points. Please EMAIL any corrections directly to the platteriverfitness@gmail.com address. Doris volunteers a tremendous amount of time and has for many years and we couldn’t do this without her! She is a spreadsheet genius! Please, check them now and then again mid-December after she has a chance to get the final two races added. They are big ones, so it takes her some time. Once the points are made final, usually at the end of December, they are just that, final. We want to get it right, but we need your help to do that.
The second competition within the PRFS also rewards continuity and adherence to an active lifestyle. It too rewards “showing up.” Those athletes who complete every race including the virtual challenge are named “Ultimate Finisher.” It is so rewarding to hear how many athletes find serious motivation in that goal. You might think that it is the complimentary entries for the upcoming year that are the motivators, but the truth is, most of our 2022 Ultimate Finishers have paid most or all their entry fees this year. Several have done so for years. The PRFS covers the cost of those entry fees and pays them to the races, and when these athletes pay their fees, it helps the PRFS financially, and for those gifts, I am deeply grateful. They have earned that complimentary entry, they deserve it, and I love to offer it. They care deeply about the fitness family and want to show their support for the PRFS in this generous way.
We have more races in one place than some communities three, four, ten times our size. We want people to have every opportunity to experience the sense of accomplishment, pride and most importantly, connection that races foster. We want people to have a way to build an active lifestyle over time. We are incredibly lucky that so many organizations choose physical activity as the medium for their cause. When an athlete makes every race, it really is an ultimate accomplishment. We acknowledge that it is also pretty extraordinary to make all but one or two, so this category of Finisher celebrates progress over perfection. If you complete all but a couple, we celebrate you too.
As we head into our 23rd year, please know that I am grateful. Grateful to every race director, volunteer, sponsor, and to everyone who has graced our starting line. You truly are family. Enjoy the holiday traditions in your family this upcoming holiday season as we continue the traditions that make the PRFS a family as well!