By Jared Janzen
Local Yokel Reporter
Hutchinson finally received some much-needed rain in the past week. For some reason, I seem to keep finding myself getting stuck outside in it.
Last Friday evening, I set out on a 12-mile run, which I fully expected to take at least two hours.
There was a part of me that knew rain was in the forecast for the evening. There was also a part of me that knew if I didn’t run 12 miles that night, I’d have to do it the next night, so I might as well just get it done with.
My plan was to run from my house to Carey Park and then along the walking path north to Rice Park.
Murphy’s Law must have a corollary for runners that if it’s going to start raining when you’re on a run, the rain will start when you’re at the absolute furthest point from home. Sure enough, the rain started right around the time I reached Rice Park.
I could have taken shelter under a pavilion until the rain passed. With apologies to Robert Frost, the pavilion was lovely, dark and deep. But I had miles to go before my sleep and miles to go before my sleep.
I also could have cut a few miles off by taking a shortcut through town, instead of returning home by trail. But there was no lightning, so in the interest of keeping my heart rate up, I squelched on for the full 12 miles.
The rain did motivate me to pick up my pace. Looking at my mile splits, I ran my seventh and eight miles about a minute faster than I ran the fourth and fifth ones.
Running in a light rain really isn’t that different from running in the heat of July. You’re either drenched in rain or you’re drenched in sweat, but either way, your clothes will cling to your body and be hard to peel off when you get home.
Saturday was another wet day. I woke up before dawn and drove 40 minutes through the rain and in the dark to Hesston for the college’s homecoming disc golf tournament, only to find out as soon as I got there that it was canceled due to the rain.
So I drove back home, slept for another hour and pretended it had all been a dream.
Part of my problem is that I never check the radar. I like to keep the weather mysterious. When will the rain start? When will it stop? How intense will it be? I never know.
By mid-morning Saturday, I was back in the rain again, this time heading toward Buhler to take photos of the Frolic. The parade was delayed twice for a total of 90 minutes as the community tried to wait out the rain.
Naturally, I didn’t have an umbrella (because Murphy’s Law), so I tried to take shelter under a tree, with my camera tucked under my jacket like a baby kangaroo.
Fortunately, someone in Buhler is better at watching the radar than I am, because the rain eased up as the parade finally got underway at 11:30. By the time it was over, the skies were blue and the sun was sharing its warmth.
I will say, the double parade concept is a photographer’s dream. At a normal parade, I only get photos from one side of the street, but with all the vehicles doubling back to return to the start, I could get pictures of passengers and drivers alike, as well as both sides of the floats.
I’m writing this column Tuesday afternoon, having spent the past few hours watching the rain fall outside our office windows. This time, I stayed inside, comfortable and dry, but I’d also like to go for another run this evening, so I might have to rinse and repeat the events of last Friday.
More rain is in the forecast for the next few days. As I wrote in a story for last week’s Tribune, Hutchinson has been in a severe drought for the past two months. The city had been about 11 inches behind its normal rainfall totals for the year. Thanks to all the precipitation we’ve received in the past week, we’re working to make up that difference.
The rain makes for a nice change from our long, hot summer, so I welcome more of it. Just don’t expect it to keep me inside.