Bad weather plagues 6th running of the Little 50

Rain, thunder and lightning.\nThe sixth running of the Little 50 was plagued by Mother Nature’s obstacles but showed the mental toughness of its competitors. With weather delays adding up to more than an hour, the runners lost rhythm but battled relentlessly during the 50-lap relay race.\nThe race is comprised of teams of four racing around a quarter-mile track. On Thursday, the women’s race was halted after 42 laps because of inclement weather, which frustrated many who had trained until race day. \n“The weather delay was incredibly aggravating,” said senior Kati Bennett, captain of team Cream. \nCream came back to compete this year after finishing second a year ago by a mere two seconds. Once the race resumed, Cream completed its final eight laps, sprinting to victory in dominant fashion. \n“It felt great to come back and win,” Bennett said. \nOfficials debated whether the race should be restarted, since only 25 laps are needed for the competition to become official. \nWhen the race was stopped, Alpha Phi had a commanding lead of second place. But since it was on the same lap as several others teams, Alpa Phi lost its advantage when the race restarted. \nSophomore Katie Wickham, who ran for Alpha Phi, was frustrated by the decision. \n“We were kind of nervous,” she said of her team during the weather delay. “I didn’t think we would race again, but we did the best we could.”\nWickham said her team’s strength was endurance and not speed, so with few laps to go after the restart Kappa Alpha Theta passed Wickham’s team, dropping Alpha Phi to a third-place finish. \nAlthough she would have liked to have done better, Wickham said she was proud of her team’s finish, especially considering it had only one returning runner from last year’s team. \n“The team came together and did really well,” she said. \nThe men’s race only got through 21 laps before weather postponed the race. \nThe delay bothered Andy Krack, a junior on team Mercury, because it cost the team some of the lead they had built before the weather delay. Despite what happened, he said the team was mentally prepared. \n“The way we train, it didn’t throw us off too much,” he said. \nIn the last portion of the race teams battled through intense rain, lightning and fatigue. \n“It was pretty tough,” Krack said. “Once we realized we were on record pace, it lifted my spirits a little.”\nKrack, the winner of the Gold Mile Event the week before, said he had fun running in the lightning. Winning the race wasn’t bad either, as the team won in record time of 54:12. \nOne of Mercury’s most dedicated supporters was Gorn Jantaraweragul, the roommate of team captain senior Michael Philippsen. Despite the poor conditions, Jantaraweragul dressed himself like Mercury, the Greek messenger god. \n“I just wanted to support (Philippsen) the best I could,” Jantaraweragul said. “It was crazy.”\nShirtless with Mercury printed across his chest and wings attached to his feet, he cheered his team on to victory, and said he was excited the team won the race. \n“I would have felt pretty embarrassed if they would not have brought home the gold,” he said. \nMercury’s Josh Smith, a first-year runner, said the race was a positive experience. \n“I had a great group of guys to run with,” he said.