Aye, November, and another USATF-MN Road Racing Circuit has fallen from time like skeletal maple leaves wafting to the frosty earth against autumn's dying glow. We who raced it, lived it, and now months removed need no reminders save the scars on our souls and the victories in our hearts. We swallow the warm mouthfuls of tea and soak the morsels of cake that bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection: Slab City Running Company kicked some serious boo-tay in 2008.
Slab City detractors have rightly observed that The Company managed only a fifth place finish. True enough, but those final team standings remain the only piece of evidence suggesting that Slab City Running Company is not the best team on the circuit. In fact, The Company matched it's 2007 performance and also experienced significant growth over the final races of the season. After perennial leader and Company co-founder, Chris "Bizyah" Lundberg, left for the wilds of Idaho several Slab City rookies carried the team through the august August competition.
Ben Merchant led the squad and impressed his mother by doubling at the Hennepin-Lake Classic. Andy Jahn made his Slab City debut in fine style with a near-PR shirtless 10K, and Tom Church returned to the scoring ranks with his 5K performance. Matt Gehring and Phil Schrader also dizzied themselves around Lake Calhoun to clinch The Company's fifth-place showing. Ben Ho, meanwhile, anchored The Company booster squad by arriving prepared to run even though he was still recovering from racing the Chisago Lakes Half-Ironman Triathlon the previous weekend.
Just one week after Hennepin-Lake, Andy Jahn returned to lead The Company and relieve Reuben Woodruff of his state record for 22 year-olds at the MDRA 15K. Reuben, undeterred, thrashed his way to a 55:07, and Ross Rankin made his Slab City debut with an as-advertised 57:09. Triathlons can only keep Ben Ho down for so long, and he joined Matt Gehring to clinch another fifth place finish and to guarantee that Slab City would finish no lower than fifth overall for the season.
With little left for The Company to prove, Paul Fischer and Ross Rankin each showed the strength that would serve them well at the Twin Cities Marathon by turing in impressive performances at the City of Lakes 25K. Paul led the team as Ross continued building a reputation worthy of challenging Bryan Donald for the position of Slab City Metronome. Sadly, the day's most impressive performance did not register favorably in the results. Dan "Chapel" Church completed the 25K in 1:44:32. His fastest miles, however, were those he completed before the race began, dashing from his car to the starting line after misplacing Lake Harriet. Lake Harriet, as so many of us have learned, waits for no man, and so began the 25K while Chapel was still two sprinting minutes away from the starting line. He did well to finish the race at all, but completing his two fastest miles en route to the course left him depleted and The Company celebrated the racing equivalent of a Golden Birthday on the seventh.
At season's end, fifth-place Slab City was 18-points ahead of the sixth-place Molar Milers, and ahead of more than half of The Company's Circuit rivals. Strong performances from Paul Fischer, Ross Rankin, Tom Church and Ben Ho on Twin Cities weekend suggest The Company is poised to chip away at Collegeville's 11-point fourth-place margin and Ford's 14-point third-place margin. Until then we toast Company Runner of the Year, Ben Merchant, for leading the team at six of nine races and Company Co-Rookies of the Year, Ben Ho and Paul Fisher. Toasts and teas preserve our memories through these winter months, as we prepare to greet 2009 with supple mind and limb.
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