This morning we ran the 6.66 mile Devil’s Chase run in Salem (here). Ever since I read the Crucible in high school, I’ve had a fascination with Salem — although I’ve never fully accepted Salem’s self-proclamation as “Witch City” and ownership of the Halloween holiday. I mean, the life lesson to be learned from the Salem witch trials is that none of the accused witches were really witches. Of course. Salem as a city is no more supernatural than Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. But it’s a good marketing technique, as evident by the nearly 1200 runners who signed up to run 6.66 miles at 8am on a late-October Sunday morning that fortuitously happened to be Halloween.
The race instructions said that costumes were encouraged and they’d have prizes for the best 15 costumes, but we somehow missed the memo that only devil costumes would be judged. Which is ridiculous, because how boring is it to see hundreds of runners wearing red shirts, tiny devil’s horn, and forked tails? Wouldn’t you rather see…
- Zombie Pilgrim
…a zombie pilgrim?
Mr. P improvised with a can of green hairspray and the ridiculously orange tech shirt from the ING half-marathon:
Pumpkin Man
Even though I didn’t qualify for the costume contest, I created a stir as I ran through the streets of Salem. And whatever discomfort caused by running in a full-length skirt (with a pinned hemline), a collar, an apron, a bonnet, and highly toxic face paint was compensated by the hilarity that such a sight caused among the festive citizens of Salem, who consistently correctly identified me: “Look, it’s a pilgrim zombie!” One woman pointed at me and shrieked “It’s a witch! Hang the witch!” I must’ve had my picture taken two dozen times. I loved that everyone understood and appreciated what I was going for:
The Home Stretch
Thank goodness the morning chill kept me from sweating profusely, as I was highly paranoid that my face would melt into my eyes. My pace was very relaxed, and by the time I rounded towards the finish line (passing speedy Mr. P — who had long since finished — with his camera) I could even muster a smile, though beaming happiness isn’t very pilgrim zombie-esque.
Happiest Zombie Pilgrim Ever
At the finish line, I sampled some popcorn and helped Mr. P pillage the energy bars (for future use). Then, we took a turn in the photo booth.
And, just because I’m verklempt with seasonal exuberance, here are some gratuitous late-season foliage shots from Lynn Woods:
Boston from Lynn Woods
