Welcome to Telluride on a beautiful Saturday morning. Yesterday was a bit tough for me due to sleep deprivation and some technical issues, but let’s start off today with a tarp run.
Starting ridiculously early the day before on the campground side, a line forms near the volleyball courts near Warner Field as eager (bordering on insane) festivarians vie for a spot at the very front of the line. Tomorrow’s line probably has a chair or two in it now. I’m not sure when the town side line takes shape.
The purpose of the tarp run is to stake out turf on the field each day. The sound of bagpipes fills the air as the clock approaches 9am. As the William Tell Overture on bagpipes blares from the speakers, tarp runners from two lines, one from the town side and one from the camp sites side sprint, run, jog and hobble towards the stage in an effort to secure the best tarp site for their group. The rule is one tarp per person, but the tarps can be fairly large. If there’s a size limit, it appears to only be loosely enforced.
I ran tarp for our group on Thursday morning. The experience gets the adrenaline and competitive juices flowing- I swear I ran into that girl on accident as I was focused on a prime piece of green grass amid a checkerboard of other tarps. It was completely unintentional and I did not leap over her then kill her just to watch her die as the story is now being told around the camps. Actually, no harm came and I apologized on the spot. Sorry, the truth in this case is so much more mundane. It was a great spot, though.
Anyway, this morning we had the opportunity to watch the tarp run from the stage. It wrapped up just under an hour ago. Here we go…
The front line sprinters
Down in front
Prime real estate goes quick
Celebration
One small prime spot left
View from the stage
