The Frozen Fifteen

I think it was 1978, but I could be wrong.  For my first 3 years at PSU, we had a "race" of sorts at the beginning of December which happened to be the "Airport Loop".

My log is quite sparse, but my memories aren't:

• December 10, 1977 - Airport Loop  1:36.
• December 4, 1978 - Airport Loop  1:36.
• December 2, 1979 - Airport Loop  1:34.

The Airport Loop was more than 15 miles.  Fifteen miles of desolate, unending, unshielded, monotonous miles.  Sure, maybe it would have been scenic in the early hours of a cool summer day.  But it was never scenic in early December.  Especially when the temperature reached single digits and the wind speeds were double digits.

Like I said, I think it was the 1978 one that stands out in my mind.  That's the day I saw gray skin on the Wolfe twins after the finish.  At the time, I could tell the difference between Al and Jeff Wolfe by the body part that turned gray in cold weather runs.  I can't remember which was which now, but the nose and ear alerted me at the time.  "Hi Al, how's the ear feeling?"  I'd say.  Or maybe it was Jeff.

When I reached the Creamery, with less than a half mile to go, my parents were standing in front of the Creamery cheerily saying "hello" as I desperately tried to hold it together, with icicles precariously hanging from my nose and ears.*   "I'M IN A RACE!" I garbled through frozen lips before limping home to Rec Hall and the impending semblance of warmth.

And then I heard it.  A wail.  An isolated, animalistic wail, coming from the back of the building.  A desperate, blood-curdling child-like cry.  It was Dave Felice, who had finished far ahead of me, and had been wearing those new kinds of shorts made with spandex or some such horrible material and had a built-in liner.  Scant protection for certain body parts other than the lips, nose and ears.  Frostbite and The Airport Loop are forever linked in my mind.

*In town for a Sports Weekend.