Musing on a Caribbean Autumn

November 6, 2009

As I anticipate St. Croix's first ever ultramarathon, I have enjoyed the cooler weather of late, if not the shorter days. Of course reading about snow and other familiar autumn occurrences makes me nostalgic for the more dramatic seasonal changes found on the mainland. After a year on island, however, I have become more attuned to the subtle shift in seasons here in the Virgin Islands: there is about a 5-6 degree F difference between average temperatures in summer and winter. It seems insignificant at first, but over time the change becomes quite noticeable to the point that I was searching out a long sleeve shirt the other morning.

Aside from the marvel of how sensitive our bodies are in attuning to the surrounding environment, it makes me think that as much as locals should enjoy the relatively cool weather in January for the inaugural St. Croix Scenic 50 mile run, our mainland guests should expect to sweat like they are running in a sauna. In fact when scheduling the race, I thought about embracing the oppressively brutal heat during the summer and billing the race as Badwater preparation. We don't hit quite the same numbers, but factoring in humidity, we are routinely in the upper 90's to 100+ on the heat index (F). Alas, we chose the "relatively cool" time of year.

I guess ultrarunning masochists will just have to come experience the special brand of beautiful Cruzan hurt we have in store for everyone this January 24, 2010!

http://www.stcroix50.com

See you here in 79 days!