 | "Vote for Santa!" was the mantra at Christina Caravoulias's award-winning aid station for the American Odyssey Relay 2009 race. The AOR was a 200 mile team relay event from Gettysburg to Washington DC held on 24-25 April. Teams of a dozen (or fewer) runners took turns doing legs of half a dozen miles or so. Christina designed and managed the Aid Station at Lander MD on the C&O Canal towpath; a couple of other volunteers and I helped her. Chris's theme: "Christmas in April"! She prepared signs and decorations. My rôle: simply to dress as Santa Claus and cheer runners/crews in the holiday spirit. |
| Here Santa and elves practice a yoga position that, some speculated, might lure annoying insects away from people's faces. Race day was hot and countless bugs swarmed around the aid station. The theory was that pesky flying critters would seek the highest point in a victim: in this case, hands held overhead. It didn't seem to work ... |  |
^z - 2009-05-23