Barry Chafin writes:
>I, personally, would choose Castle's Wenton Ramp over GGF and actually did
>in 2001 running w/ the Fresno Chapter rather than chew up tires in Albany.
>The additional hour of drive time (each direction) is worth it to me. I'd
>also volunteer to chair a SFR Event @ Castle's Wenton Ramp if it's
>feasible... put me on the Chair's List.
And if you could get Ed to co-chair again we'd have another best-of-the-year
event (thanks) and, --- maybe --- 350 entrants :-)
I'd also, given this choice, enjoy running at Castle ten out of ten times.
However, Atwater has its "downs" also. Because the surface is old brushed
concrete, first run groups break off the loose small stuff and make for
lousy traction and severe tire wear. Sweeping only slightly improves this
situation because the site is so vast and each event "path" utilizes such a
small percentage of the surface (like no more than 4%-5%). A number of years
ago, at a Divisional, I ran 1st group and, on Saturday, both traction and
tire wear were terrible. On Sunday the "polished" path (in the oposite
direction) had great traction and, as I measured, 1/3 the tire wear compared
with Saturay. By comparison, the Mather concrete is a much "friendlier"
surface. In the beginning it wasn't but, due both to the necessity of the
strange shape determining limited course design variations and the resultant
frequency of running over those same lines, the "running area" has ALL been
polished. And with sweeping it has become clean even for early run groups.
Funny thing though, as strange as this sounds, Atwater is further for me
(160 miles) vs 115 to GGF, 130 to Oakland and 135 to Candlestick. Now lets
see, Crows? --- about 150.
Don
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