July 2 2009

Here comes the 4th of July and all of the associated madness. Up until July 4th it always seems like summer is just starting. Once it has happened, you know summer is here in full force. Organizing the race is a big thing for RMBL staff. I remember when I took the job as Director, it was the part of the job that scared me the most (little did I know what else awaited me). Luckily we’ve got great people organizing the event, so my participation is typically ceremonial; I stand on a bench in front of the Town Hall (usually with my eldest son Cormac) and drop the butterfly net. It’s amazing how quickly Gothic empties out once the runners stream out of the townsite.

We’ve been making a concerted effort to open the Lab up to the larger community. It’s an effort that predates me and the 4^th of July race is one of the better examples of an RMBL-Crested Butte event that goes back 30+ years. We have George Sibley to thank for getting it started. He came up with the idea and organized the race. He told me that after he started the first race, he drove down to Crested Butte and was doing some errands. Before he knew it, runners were approaching the finish line. He quickly bought some flour and made a finish line. In many ways, that sums up Gothic. A bright person had a great idea, figured out how to make it happen, and it just grew into something bigger than anybody would have imagined. Happy fourth of July everybody!