Chamna Chase

On Saturday, we had a wee family adventure. Most people around here went to the nifty Prosser balloon rally, but that started early enough in the morning to destroy my pregoself, so we made different plans: the Chamna Chase at Richland’s Chamna Natural Preserve. Jeff has been running faithfully for a solid month now so he decided to jump in the nearest 10k race for fun, and the kids and I can never stay away from a race. So off we went on Saturday morning in our trusty ever-dusty van.

I’m not entirely sure what the Chamna Natural Preserve is actually preserving… it looked a whole lot like the rest of the scabby prickly sage brushy landscapes around here. But there were some good rocks to play on and the entire race was on a dusty trail winding through the prickly bushes. Trail races are a rarity in this area. It was pleasant to spend an hour outside with my kids while Jeff sweated and poofed through the dust on the run.

The Big Rock was popular. The only problem with this area was in the parking lot behind it, the race folks had set up a hot dog stand of all things (at 9am) and it was wafting minced-meaty scents on us while we played at The Big Rock. Thankfully there were other attractions at the preserve too.

We hiked through some crunchy foliage to watch the race start, and found more rocks to climb. [In the background, Jeff is the second guy from the left in the white shirt and orange shorts]

Jeff: 4th from the left, just rarin’ to run.

And they’re off! The runners promptly disappeared into the bushes, leaving us to find what enjoyment we could in the prickles for the next 40 minutes.

We meandered through the shoulder-high sagebrush until we found the river. I was amused that Jay and Rose kept calling those dead-looking bushes a forest. They ran around for a while in the bushes saying “we’re in a forest! we’re in a forest!” Oh dear, we need to find these kids some trees!

There was this little opening in the foliage just big enough for two kids to stand and throw rocks into the water for half an hour:

It was very peaceful in the shade by the tranquil Yakima River. I stood there and watched my kids play—something I love to do. There was no place to sit down on the steep rocky slope, so I stood. Jay and Rose kept slipping and sliding down the slope. They got progressively dustier and dustier the longer we lingered.

I had my watch on the race, so I knew roughly when we should walk up the slope from the river to check on the runners. We timed it almost perfectly, and suddenly Jeff appeared from behind the sagebrush. He’s in this picture—can you spot him?

Woohooo!

 
THE FINISH: first of all, can you see the man dressed as a gorilla? He’s right behind the clock, wearing a blue shirt with a black gorilla mask. While we were down by the river, I happened to glance up towards the trail and was rather surprised to see gorilla-man walking up the trail. He had the full black hairy suit on—arms, legs, mask, and all. It was kind of creepy, but funny at the same time.

SO: Jeff got third place overall in the 10k, with a time of 40:11. After the race he said “I remember when I could run that distance a minute per mile faster.” But that was back in college when he was practically a full-time runner, so this was very admirable if you ask me—especially on a rocky dusty trail in the sun. Jeff was nice and worn out from his run, and I was nice and worn out from standing and walking carrying that 20 pound belly around for over an hour. I felt like I had run the race too! It made me realize just how lonnnng a ways to go I have before that can happen again.

Hurrah for the Chamna Chase! Dust all around!