Fun Is...

There are many methods to finding fun in life, I happen to have ten to add to the list;

10. Finally having United Airlines get us to our location on time without incident, a first.
9. Enjoying the 75-80 degree days and 55 degree nights in Beaverton, Oregon (with little rain, mostly sun!).
8. Using a sledge hammer to help tear down 40 year old kitchen cupboards in your daughter's home.
7. Running to Nike headquarters a mile from daughter's home and following wood chip path around the campus, hoping to spot a star professional runner.
6. Eating cinnamon roll french toast at the Big Bear restaurant, a decadent 1,400 calories!
5. Reserving a compact car for a week, only to be told they were all out and only had a GMC Yukon (kind of like a tank, only much more luxurious). Same price as the small car.
4. Trying several new varieties of small batch microbrewery Portland beers.
3. Learning to use an electric miter saw and sawz-all (?spelling) for the first time.
2. Taking night time walks around the .9 mile block every night with Captain (an annoying but fun dog), Jan and Ellowyn (granddaughter).
1. Sitting in a quiet nursery rocking Ellowyn to sleep.

Top Ten Reasons We Know Mike & Eileen are in Adirondacks

Empty bottles of Ubu beer are scattered around their cottage.

Wetsuits hanging from the trees to dry after their morning swim.

Mike’s screams heard throughout the woods when he spots a spider in the cottage doorway.

Yankee quizzes Mike sends from work every day stop. Lou gets depressed and begins re-reading a Mickey Mantle biography.

Spencerport village dogs don’t bark at 5:30am anymore, since MW isn’t out running.

Yankee television ratings drop as there is no cable access in the woods.

Yankee radio ratings increase as Mike and Eileen listen to Thsusan announce the games.

Visa calls Mike wondering if his credit card was stolen. He admits to a wild Lake Placid shopping spree at the outlet stores.

Mike and Eileen are banned from Tale o’ the Pup restaurant after dancing on top of the tables during one crazy night with a live band performing.

Eileen dreams every night of competing in the Lake Placid Ironman.

World Track & Field Championships

Our local athletes had mixed results at the World T&F Championships held in Moscow over the last two weeks. Molly Huddle, from Elmira, NY finished 6th in the 5,000m race with a time of 15:05. The top five women were from Ethiopia or Kenya.

Marathoner Jeff Eggleston, a Greece Arcadia graduate, ran a 2:14:23 marathon and was the top American finisher in 13th place. The winner ran a 2:09:51. The beginning temperature was 73 degrees, it seems the Olympics and World Championships don't ever really care about the health of the long-distance athletes. The women's marathon was in hotter and more humid conditions, the 10k races similar.

Jenn Suhr, American record holder in the pole vault, multi-time USA champion, won the Silver medal with a final vault of 15'9 3/4". Jenn grew up in Fredonia, went to college at Roberts Wesleyan and now lives in Churchville.

Lopez Lomong, from Tully High School, south of Syracuse (I saw him run xc in high school, so count him as a local runner), did not advance past the semi-finals in the 1500m race qualifying.

Miranda Melville, from Rush-Henrietta high school, had a pr of 1:34:56 in the 20k race walk (about an 8:40 pace) but was DQ'ed from the event in Moscow.

Jenny Kuzma Memorial 5k Bergen Race

A perfect summer morning for a fast 5k greeted runners in Bergen, New York on Saturday, August 10. The race director, Eric Boyce, does a great job of enticing really fast runners to his hometown event. This year the race also served as the USATF Niagara 5k road championship. Female repeat champion (3x) Maegan Krifchin took home over $900 with her winning time of 16:22. The overall winner, Michael Fout, ran a scintillating 14:27, just missing the course record by three seconds and a $200 bonus.

Runners had to be under a 5:38 per mile pace to even make the top 50. 367 people completed the distance, 8:00/mile would buy you no more than a 211th place finish! In most area 5k's that kind of time would place a runner in at least the top 40%.

Our local Sal's oldsters did great, led by Mike Weinpress's 3rd place in age group, 21:30, a 6:56 pace. Eileen ran a 25:32, Jan McCullough a 25:49 (about the same time as last year when she won the age group, this year finishing 8th), Joanne Katz nearly pr'd with a 27:21, 8:49 pace. Pete Leonard was 2nd with a 23:31 (7:35 pace), not bad for being 2 weeks shy of 70!              

Top Running Movies?

Looking for some late summer entertainment, or perhaps inspiration for an upcoming race? Try one of these movies about running, ranked by my preference, of course. Feel free to add suggestions or debate the list.

10. Chariots of Fire - a classic, but some scenes are a bit dragged out for me.
9.   Endurance (Ethiopian great Haile Gebreslassie)
8.  Four Minute Mile (Roger Bannister)
7.  Saint Ralph (Teen decides to run Boston Marathon)
6. Spirit of the Marathon
5. Marathon Man ( 1976, a young Dustin Hoffman) much more than about running
4. Without Limits (Prefontaine)
3. On the Edge (Bruce Dern, who really is an ultramarathon runner. Based on Dipsea Race)
2. Running Brave (true story of Billy Mills - inspirational)
1. Fire on the Track (Prefontaine)

Two other possibilities are; Forest Gump and Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner.