Is Mother Nature Just Joshin' Us?

I awoke this morning to feel a distinct chill permeating my apartment. The sky outside was gray--hooray!--and I sensed immediately a familiar feeling: this is Josh Billings weather.

Of course, I'm referring to the 34th Annual Great John Billings RunAground Triathlon, the second oldest of its kind in the world, which whips through Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and Lenox, Mass., on Sunday, September 12.

No matter how gorgeously sunny or Indian summer-like September is on any given year, it seems almost like a celestial rule that race day be cool, breezy, borderline gloomy. I'm not one of the five hundred racers at the event (rather, an impassioned spectator rooting on her father, a cyclist competitor of thirty years), but if I were, I'd certainly prefer mild temps and a murky sky over an eye-searing scorcher of a morning.

Those who paddle a canoe or kayak in a frantic, five-mile double loop around Stockbridge Bowl alongside a few hundred other adrenaline junkies will probably disagree. That's where things get  dicey; even without raindrops, it can turn into a Moby-Dick situation, fast.

Last year, the sun was in full effect during the Josh Bash, the post-race party and awards ceremony held on the front lawn of Tanglewood. Fingers crossed for similar conditions this year; however, as I'm writing this, the Weather Channel is predicting a 50 percent chance of showers on Sunday in Great Barrington, where the race kicks off in front of the Price Chopper plaza on Route 7 at 9:30 a.m.

Regardless of sun, clouds, or rain: go teams! Win those mugs! --->