I am the race director on the early shift of the 3,100 mile race, from 6 am until 11 or 12 noon, so I get an early look as to how the runners are generally feeling and what it looks like for them that day. I try and say hello to each runner as they arrive at the race just to get a pulse on how they are doing. But there is a more sure fire way of determining how the runners are feeling: oatmeal. Yes, oatmeal. Let me explain. In addition to the many snacks at the race, the runner’s breakfast arrives at around 8 am. Depending upon the runner, they might get eggs, tofu, some special liquid treat, whatever. In addition to their specific requests, more general food stuff comes out with the breakfast, such as fruit cups, bread with some high caloric spread on it, green smoothies, fruit smoothies and oatmeal. Now oatmeal is at the bottom of the food chain in regards to what the runners like most. So, if by 8:30 am or so there is only one or two oatmeal servings left, that means the runners are hungry, which generally translates into ‘they are feeling fine’. However, if the bulk of the oatmeal servings remain, that indicates that they are generally tired from yesterday and will take a while to get into their top running form. So, oatmeal is one of the barometers I use to see how the runners feel. And it works!