It was midnight, the moon was shining and the runners were ready for the start of the race...

For those of you who aren't from around here, the town Pownal Vt  had their 13th annual Midnight in Vermont 5k run last night.  It was the first time I had heard of it, but friends had asked if I would run with them. I guess I missed the whole memo on racing at night! Never the less, I entered the race and met everyone at the Pownal fire station. I was met by a flurry of glow sticks, EVERYWHERE, People had them wrapped around their legs faces and wrists. I got a sweet shirt and my very own glow stick. The race began fittingly with a cowbell and the runners were off. Naturally at the beginning of the race when everyone is huddled together it's easy to observe a wide variety of footwear. The concept of "natural" running was present in many different form. There were the  Vibram fivefingers and one man inparticular who had made his own running shoes which looked to be made out of a tire and a leather strap. Personally i would never try to run on pavement without a "trainer" but the whole natural running idea does interest me. I found a happy medium. The Mountain Goat just started carrying the Scott running shoe line particularly for people like me who don't feel comfortable running barefoot or with the finger shoes. Scott has developed a shoe that is their own version of Natural running. The ones I bought were  light enough so that it felt as if I were wearing nothing but with the added support of my custom orthotics. For those of you who want to try a "natural" running shoe try out the Scotts.

Back to the race! Throughout the course  were scatterings of  glowsticks and candles that would be the only light aside from the moon. You honestly couldn't have asked for a better night. Peaceful and cool; the race was a success. Running with friends and glowsticks, the hills of Pownal were no match. We all finished with no visible injuries, so everyone agreed to do it again next year. For those of you traveling the Northest make some time beautiful Vermont, it wont let you down.