A Decade of the Riddle Run: "It's all about the cupcakes."

Me (left) with fellow buffalo Jeff Riddle at the Buffalo Trace trail for Riddle Run 10. Always run in January no matter what the weather.

Riddle Run 10, a runfest on the Buffalo Trace trail at Mahomet, was held this past Saturday, with race director Jeff Riddle promoting his namesake run in his usual dictatorial rant: "You absolutely must be low key and fun. You must not be a wimp, a whiner, or a complainer. You must not give excuses, die, get hurt or sue. If you are, or do, any of these things you will be disqualified and not eligible for any awards." We don't take Jeff seriously. The awards consist of a roll of toilet paper for the first male to finish 28 miles and a small stuffed buffalo toy for the female winner. For the rest of us? It's all about the cupcakes. For each Riddle Run Jeff's wife Debbie has made cream-filled cupcakes, and this year the Riddle kitchen turned out 125 cupcakes for the registered runners.

I am one of only two runners that have completed at least one four-mile loop of the trail in all 10 runs. It is my favorite running event because it is such fun running a trail, having big campfires to get warm, and good food and drink. AND, the cupcakes. The race has a motto that sums up the run pretty well: "A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame and money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well."