That’s my lottery entry # for the ING NYC Marathon. For a race where the max number of runners is about 40-45k, I’m guessing my chances are slim to none. But what the heck…you never know…actually, I’ll know sometime mid June. Chances are I’ll be running the RNR San Antonio instead. 
Archive for the 'events' Category
13.1 Mile Trail Run, Reading, PA
Sunday, August 17, 2008 * 9:00 AM * No Entry Limit!
52 times in 2008, large groups of not very bright people will come together to compete with one another. The competitors will pay large sums of money to enter, even though just about every one of them has little chance of winning and they will “bore the heck” out of all of those around them with their claims of prowess and achievement leading up to these events. Afterwards, most of these slugs will sulk back home with their tails between their legs, still convinced that they had a chance of achieving true greatness despite a CLEAR indication that, going in, they must have been delirious from a dangerous “mixing” of semi-illegal drugs, out of control egos and the massive consumption of refined sugar products. 51 of these “gatherings of the dim” fall into a single descriptive category known as “the Presidential Primaries” (no, we did not annex Manitoba as the 51st state when you were asleep; Washington DC has one too). The 52nd event of unfulfilled dreams and moronic behavior is known as the “Half Wit Half” Marathon Trail Run; a 13.1M rustic trail run that attracts daredevils, retired Elvis impersonators, non-working Kids Party Clowns, 1 or 2 paparazzi and a whole buncha weekend athletes that are convinced that doing something that is “not too good” for their health is, somehow, “good” for what little mind they have!!! The Half Wit is a tuff but doable race for those that have more guts than brains and it is to “serious athletic endeavor” what Rap Music Artists are to the “responsible use of handguns for maintaining manageable levels of wildlife”. The HWH is Pretzel City Sport’s second greatest annual challenge; right behind reading the legal waiver printed on most of its apps in size 4 font without the use of the Hubbell telescope. The Half Wit is a nightmare of serious climbs, loose rock descents, trees and runners laying across the trails, flying insects and animals with pepper spray, urban relics that are somehow standing despite the city around them falling apart, poor footing and even poorer spellers, volunteers with “agendas” and a whole gaggle of folks running with you that still have serious aspirations of someday being a “StarFleet Commander!” Only a fool would hold this event and he is encouraged to do so each year by the 400-600 other fools from 8-12 states that continue to “come back” like a fish chimichanga eaten right before bedtime. These underachievers embrace such race oddities as the “128 Steps from Hell”, the unique aide stations that sooth a parched pallet, the shirt that reflects that the entry should never be allowed to operate heavy machinery even before taking certain cold medicines and the knowledge of knowing that despite doing 6-10 stupid things per mile during the event, they will STILL probably not be the dumbest person there. The Half Wit Half! A running adventure for those that, coming out of high school. even the Armed Services rejected and are damn proud of it!! LEGAL-EASE: YOU ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR HEALTH & WELFARE WHILE RACING THE HWH. Dr Martin Luther King once nobly said “I have a dream”. HWH finishers have dreams too but they are not the kind that make you look forward to falling asleep! Despite that, it is “probable” that you won’t get lost or dinged during this race; very few do. If you do, however, it is your responsibility to find your way back or drag your mangled body to a place where we can conveniently retrieve you via “fossil fuel” means. We do not carry you out nor look for you; we reserve our in-race support to “missing you a lot!” Our on-site ambulance feels the same way, except that, as non-runners, they don’t miss you near as bad. As such, we do not allow runners under 18 to do this event. Others discouraged from entering are anyone that knows that Penn, Columbia and Brown are more than just a writing implement, a space shuttle & a color. Others that should stay home are “terminally oversensitive” folks that think that every subsection of people, including Incas, Druids and Metrosexuals, have a right to not have their “leg pulled’ by semi-humorous trailside signs; on the other hand, former owners of any American Motors vehicle (Pacers, Gremlins, etc.), past “Dollywood” visitors and any member of the Jelly of the Month Club are welcome with open arms, legs and sores!
IF that description is NOT an inspiration to run this damn race…then you are dead to me.
Boy did I mis TAS!
Well, I ran my 1st 10k EVER this past weekend, the Mitchell Lake Bird Lover’s 10k. I found out that this year was only the 2nd annual Bird Lover’s 10k, so it’s a relatively new race in San Antonio (no wonder I had never heard of it before…). Not only did I truly enjoy this racing distance, but the course was really nice too. Only about 3/4 of a mile was actually road, the rest was easy trail (nothing treacherous), mainly flat with some gentle slopes, and the occasional alligator sighting (don’t ask…I thought I was supposed to be watching for birds…). The weather was really nice too, almost a little to warm (low 50’s), but good enough for me. With a 1:03 finishing time, I ended up placing 6th in my age group, not sure how many there were actually in my age group, they only posted the top 10. I didn’t think that was very fast, but I’ll take it! :) Like I said, I really enjoyed this racing distance…I forsee a few more 10k’s in my future.
Well the Carrera girls strapped on their cowgirl boots and went for a little 4 mile run on the San Antonio Rodeo grounds. We would have gotten to the finish line faster if these bulls hadn’t gotten in our way!
See us waaaaay back there?
Yep! There’s nothing like the smell of bull poop and barbeque smoke to welcome you to the finish line. Gotta love Texas!
In Banana’s head as she boots scootin’ boogies away from the computer…….
“Don’t break my heart! My achy, breaky heart!”
“ALLLLL my exes live in Texas! That’s why I hang my hat in Tennessee!”
“God bless Texas with his own haaannnds! Brought down angels from the Promise Land! Gave them a place where they could dance! If you wanna see heaven, baby here’s your chance!”
“We’re a two of a kind, working on a full house!”
No really, there was biscuits and gravy, sausage tacos, chips and queso and salsa, coffee, hot chocolate, water, gatorade, and Lone Star (of course) waiting for us at the finish inside the rodeo grounds. Lots of food for such a small race…just a few hundred runners and about half as many walkers. Oh yes, the weather was great (in the 40’s) and the course was part trail and part road. The best part is that I had company this time…my two soeurs! Now that’s a first! Both Banana and I guess bibi were coerced decided to join me. Technically it was Banana’s idea, since she found out about this run in the 1st place, but she was ready to wimp out at the last minute. I made her register online while I was on the phone with her and had her e-mail me her confirmation…just in case. Then we both decided to e-mail our confirmations to I guess bibi..you know…as a hint.
Of course, it took about 3 miles for Banana to finally warm up…she ran in pants. It was at that point that I guess bibi started to deteriorate…she was having a little trouble during that last mile…especially upon entering the rodeo grounds when the staff kept “cheering” us on by yelling out, “You’re almost there!”, “Just around the corner!”, then again “Just around the corner!”, and some more “Just around the corner!”…funny thing, at that point we were running around the Joe Freeman Coliseum which for the most part is actually a round building…. About 44 minutes later it was all over, I guess bibi recouped and we hung around to indulge a little at the post run meal/awards celebration.
So…I decided to run the San Diego RNR and week 1 starts now…haven’t registered yet, but will soon…just working on the “time off” situation at work. Today’s 3 miler was short and to the point, no frills, on the treadmill during my lunch break at work. This seems to be my trend…squeeze the early training short runs during lunch on the treadmill simply in the interest of time, then getting the boys “acclimated” to me not being around much as the training progresses and the runs become longer. This mainly affects Punxsk8erdude’s need for assistance with schoolwork & transportation to/from soccer practice in the evenings. Tomate works evenings so he’s not usually around to be able to assist most of the time. Punxsk8erdude’s cool about it…he thinks it’s cool that his “mama” runs marathons. He also saw the Spirit of the Marathon and already has an list of all the marathons he’d like to run when he’s older…who knows, maybe sometime in the not so far away future we’ll run one together.
In case you miss it, there will be an encore on February 21st.
I’m on ING NYC Marathon “watch“. There. I said it.
I was simply hoping the weather would cooperate, because I knew she’d do fine with a little push from the weather gods.
I am so proud. Toots broke ALL barriers. She looked really concentrated and as if she were working really hard, but in a good frame of mind. It was great to experience someone else breaking through a dream.
Nicely done, mon amie. Je lève la verre à toi. Que les meilleurs ET les pires marathons t’arrivent. Comme il faut. Des milliers de bisous….
I finally did it, here in the Big D! Mother Nature helped Sister Moon align all the stars to get the weather just right…cold, overcast and a little breezy with just the slightest drizzle…perfect weather conditions in my book! :) A 4:38 finish…20 minutes faster than San Antonio and almost an hour faster than Paris. I’ll post more about it later. Right now thanks are in order. Thank you, Tomate & Punxsk8erdude for the support and for making it easy to train for this marathon…I know I neglected you sometimes in order to “get my runs in”. Thank you, Banana, I see you were tracking me along the way (you don’t know it yet, but you were with me at the start and for about the 1st 6 miles). I can’t wait for you to run your first…I’ll definitely be there with you! Thank you, Coworker #1, for the encouragement and well wishes. Thanks, everyone else, for the well wishes and for letting me rant on about this marathon. Thank you “I guess bibi” for running my last training run with me - I know there’s also a marathon in you somewhere. Also thanks, “I guess bibi”, Jason & Alex for being there for me and for putting me up for the weekend. Thank Mima too! Thank you Sally and Lumpy for coming down south to bear this hot and treacherous weather (nice change of weather today, no?) to cheer me on - means the world to me. Oh, yeah, those post race bistec tacos rocked!!! :) Still soaking it in…write about it some more later.
