Rattling Marathon in 2008?

Last year saw the first race on the Rattling Creek trails. And it didn't come about without a little controversy amongst some of the trail builders in the club. For the most part, the club members were fairly divided -- since the race was a "Marathon" and the riders wouldn't be tearing things up like a typical XC race, coupled with the fact a Marathon isn't going to draw the entries like a XC race, many felt the race would be acceptable and minimal damage would occur. The opposition felt ANY "racing" would damage trails and should be avoided. In the end, since it was pretty much a half and half vote, the club stood "opposed" in the interests of our dedicated builders, but at the same time certainly couldn't deny the race happening since it IS public lands. So the race went on, with conditions -- alternate course if wet (it would have been all fire road/snowmobile trail and maybe Rock's Ridge and Wolf Pond), the trail inspectors would be surveying after the race to check for damage and if there WAS damage, no race in 2008. Post race, all trails held up well and saw minimal impact with the exception of Doc Smith which was rode twice in the race AND is not as rock-strewn as the others, so some of the turns were ever-so-slightly banked on Doc Smith, but certainly not "damaged." So the race-day guru, Ricky Brown, was ok with the turnout of the race, as were our very-concerned volunteers who came out to help assure the trails would be "protected." So this year? Not sure yet. The race promoter cannot do as many races as last year -- he bit off more than he could chew. So the search is on for a new race promoter of which the Club already said no, they are not interested in promoting a race mainly because they already do the BASH which is a pretty big deal for them. Kuhndog approached Mountainside Ski and Sports as a Team to put the race on, but the jury is still out on that. Bottom line, it takes a lot to organize and run a race and no one simply has the time. Sure, lots of folks said they'd "help", but it takes that one person to glue it all together and make it happen.