Checking out the running path under Meridian Street at 8:20am... hummm should we run this route??

A interesting morning at Holliday Park!
A timeline from race director Don Carr's perspective leading into this year's Holliday Park Trail run

Tuesday, March 20 - Review of HPTR course takes place - most of the course is fine just a few points along the way have too much water - perhaps by Saturday things will be fine... just have to wait and see.

Friday, March 23 - 1pm - Time to do a final walk through of the course to see how good/bad it is along the way - it's been a rainy past few days so water levels have risen along the banks of the White River and we know we will probably have to make a few adjustments.   The College Street bridge is causing a concern - we can no longer go down to bottom of bridge due to the rising water - but to get across the top part of the sloped surface is also a major challenge - the graffiti paint has made a very slick surface and it is too dangerous  to try to get people across  - we decide to cross over College Ave above the bridge (a quick call is made to the Indianapolis Police Dept for their assistance in stopping traffic) - We re-adjust the course so that we can do this new route.  We look at other parts of the river bank and realize that the water is still rising and will have to wait until morning to make a final decision on the full route. 

Friday eve - 6:15pm - before leaving the park, we view the river water level from the US Geological Survey website and see that it is currently at about 10.5 feet but predicted to keep rising overnight - oh boy!

Friday eve - 10pm - before going to bed, I re-think a back up course all within Holliday Park - I had a plan B but did not like it and it 'bugged me' there was too much overlap in it and it could cause problems  - so I re-drew another route and labeled it "Plan C"

Saturday, March 24 - 6:30 am - I arrive to the underpass of the Meridian Street Bridge - with flashlight in hand  (it was dark and foggy - sort of like those fright movies)  I walk  along the pathway only to see water creeping onto the path - OH BOY... it's just barely reaching the path.  Drat, I was hoping the the water level was either low so it would be no problem -or on the other hand, the water level would be way high and we would have to change the course immediately - either way a quick decision could be made right then and there.  The way it stood now, is that it looked ok, but a bit questionable. 

6:45 am - I drive my truck up to the far east end of the course and check out the pathway on that side - whoa, the White River has gone over the bank and flooded our course leading up to Marrott Park - - I quickly connect with Jeff Coates who is one of my main course supervisors - we quickly re-route the course to go on sidewalks and streets over near Marrott Park - after that decision we hustle back to Holliday Park to make a final decision on the route.

7:10 am - Arrive to Holliday Park and run down the hill behind the Nature Center to check to see if the water has risen high enough to cause us problem near by ... as i approach the bottom of the hill I look out and see one massive river!  It looks like the river has swallowed up about 50 feet of the path near the duck pond - not too bad - I think we can work around that by just having runners go up around that spot...it's a fairly short distance.

7:15 am Arrive back to Nature Center and quickly get registration going then head outside and help coordinate the finish line with my brother Phil - Ok, things are going pretty good now.

7:20 am - Connect with Jeff Coates again to have him head up to Marrott Park with a few other people and begin marking out a new route in that section of the course.

7:50 am - Connect with Kevin and Barry to have them begin marking the lower route inside of Holliday Park.

8:00 am - Set up final stretch of course

8:10 am - I get a phone call from one of the park staff that Meridian Street Bridge is a concern - the water level has risen quite a bit since 6:30am -  I jump in my truck with Joe and we hightail it over to the Meridian Bridge.

8:15 am - Arrive to the Bridge and view the water level (see pic above) - There are about 6 people there and we all begin to discuss option - - Option 1: It does not look too bad and we think we can still do it. It is only about 3-4" of water and we can mark the trail with flagging poles should the water rise a little more. I call Lisa Hurst (the race committee chairperson) and inform her that we can still do it as planned.   After about 10 minutes of marking the trail, we notice that the water has risen about another 1" - fairly significant for such a short time period!  We realize that the potential for the water to get fairly high by race time is likely.... oh no!

8:30 am - We then decide that we MUST make a decision NOW an error on the side of safety... OK we DO NOT run under the Meridian Bridge - I quickly call Lisa back and inform her of the decision. and we all hustle back to the Nature Center to re-group.

8:35 am - dispatch a message up to Marrott Park to go back and tear-down all of the signs and markers - bring them back to Holliday Park ASAP so they can be used for new course.

8:40 am - About 10 committee people and 20 volunteers converge in the park office and we layout "Plan C" as I had done the night before. We broke up into four groups and each took a section of the park - OK, we have 45 minutes to get this new course plotted... sure we can do it! 

9:15 am - After about 20 cell phone calls I determine that everything is coming into place - no has called in a panic! 

9:30 am - I give final instructions to the eagerly awaiting crowd and actually hear applause when I mention the distance has been reduced.  I quickly remind them that although the distance is less, the difficulty has risen (just like the river).

9:40 am - I say "GO" and we are off for another fun-filled adventure all within Holliday Park.

Amazingly everyone (at least I think) runs the new course and no one is getting lost - it seems to have worked out well

I am relieved !