Three bleary-eyed Spartaneers rendezvoused in the blue-black darkness of 5:30am to journey to Vacaville for the 3rd Annual Golden Valley Harriers Lagoon Valley XC Challenge. The 8am Master’s start was at first dispiriting, but when they saw a sizzling fireball of sun–that would cook the course to a toasty 107 degrees that afternoon–rise above the Vacaville hills, they were relieved to 
be the first group to toe-the-line
before the soles of their sneakers
melted into the dirt.
When they arrived at the Lagoon Valley course, all heads turned their way, and a whispered murmur could be heard riding on the heat waves: “The Spartans are here.”
The three Spartaneers ambled to the registration desk like the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday heading to the O.K. Corral. The crowd of old geezers parted like the Red Sea in respect. “Those are the Spartans!” they whispered to one another as they surreptitiously fumbled with their I-phones to take pictures.
The race set off promptly at 8a with the Spartans following their usual winning game plan: start slow and taper. The 3-mile course was a serpentine, dirt-path two-looper that made-up with hills what it lacked in length. The first hill was brutal and even had a name: Big Momma. If it were any steeper, it could not be conquered with pitons and a rope. The second hill came on lap two and it was of equal incline, but shorter duration. The trail markings were a bit confusing causing both Art and Kurt to make wrong turns. But what would a XC race be without a Spartan getting turned around or lost. Both corrected their errors without turning the course into a 10k, but the heat was wearing them down.
The Spartaneers finished admirably and stumbled to the shade of their small encampment for water and recovery.
– Reported by Kurt Gravenhorst