When Jason asked me to head down to Ft. Myers this weekend to cover the Lehigh Lightning Invitational, I didn't know what to expect. But wow! I could easily get spoiled from this type of treatment. So a sincere thanks to everyone involved in the meet, especially Lehigh coach Ray Romero.
Romero located a prestine course at Shell Point Golf Course in Ft. Myers (www.shellpointgolf.com), who were remarkably willing to step up to the plate and allow 20 high schools to take over their course on a Saturday morning. What a great way to give back to the community and promote high school cross country!
There are even rumors that a road race will be held there in the near future.
The manager at the course helped arranged for my accomodations, setting me up with a king suite at the Country Inn and Suites Sabibel Gateway. The amazing part of it--unique to any course I've been to--is that the hotel was literally within walking distance of the start line. I walked in the door and they knew who I was. The hotel was incredibly clean, hot breakfast in the morning, and I may have eaten a few too many of the (free) warm chocolate chip cookies the night I arrived! So out the door I went on Saturday morning, took the short walk over to this low key but great quality meet ready to shoot some photos.
The weather was perfect. The course was fairly flat, but the meet management had taken great care to take advantage of all of the inclines and rolls that the green course offered. Each race started precisely on schedule, as I zoomed around on the golf cart they provided me from point to point on the course. The course was marked with perfection, with flags flanking the route for the entire 5000 meters.
I almost always feel looked after at these races I attend for flrunners.com, but the Lehigh crew really went above and beyond. I am looking forward to attending this race again next year. And I wouldn't be surprised to see it double in size, if some teams are looking for a quality but low key meet to travel to. You can't beat the on-site accomodations and there are plenty of places to eat for a team dinner.
After the race, I made the 10 minute drive down to Fort Myers Beach for a run just in time for sunset. The perfect end to a great weekend! I want to thank all of those involved in making my trip to Ft. Myers a great one this weekend!
I've uploaded 2000+ photos from the meet. Enjoy!