The Old Runner

This was the third annual race that memorializes the life of Kelly Guffey, a vibrant 32-year-old who lost her battle with carcinoid cancer in 2006, with proceeds going towards a nursing scholarship in her name. I was excited about running this race. It was somewhat of a milestone for me, being my 25th race in the seven months since I began running, but also it was the first race Linda and I have run in Gaston County (where we live) and the first one any of our kids have attended. We were thrilled to have our son Joe, who lives in Tucson, and his fiance Natalie, currently living in Illinois, join us in running this 5k. After about five straight days of rain and the Saturday afternoon forecast calling for 100% chance of rain, the morning weather was actually pretty nice with a race-time temperature of about 60 degrees and overcast skies but not a drop of rain. It wasn’t the most scenic course by a longshot and a couple of times I thought I might have to resort to some dog-kicking (it wa...

Try as I may to avoid it, I still look like a ninja (an old one at that) when I dress for these cold weather races. Although it was the first race since the official beginning of spring, it was maybe 37 degrees at race time, which is not quite warm enough yet for me to run in my skibbies. The  Shamrock 4 Miler  is also the first race in the “ Run for Your Life Grand Prix Series Presented by Asics ,” which according to the  Run for Your Life website , consists of “the best nine short races (5k to 15k) in the Carolinas.” It was my first actual Charlotte Grand Prix race and with the big build-up maybe I expected too much, but it didn’t seem nearly as spectacular to me as advertised. Not that it was a bad race at all — it just didn’t quite live up to all the hype of being “one of the best nine short races in the Carolinas.” Once again, the awards were beer glasses. I guess it’s got something to do with the Irish drinking a lot of beer on St. Patty’s day (maybe all of the Ir...

Oh… My… God… I think I’ve finally gone over to the other side. That place where the running fanatics get up early on Saturday morning and run no matter what. It was just a couple months ago I passed on the Grasshopper race in Gaffney because it was too cold. I’ve felt a little guilty about that ever since so today I got up at 4 a.m., coerced Linda from bed, and off we traveled a hundred miles through the driving rain to run with the devoted. It was about 37 degrees and raining at 9 o’clock when the race started, but we both lived through it and were happy we decided to go. In the race ratings, beginning with this race I’m adding a new item: “Indoor Shelter from Elements,” which gives 5 points if it’s provided and 0 points if it’s not provided. Much of the time it’s not needed, but when it is needed it’s bad not to have it. I’ve seldom been colder than I was today while we waited in the near-freezing rain for the awards ceremony. It’s not so bad running in the cold and even the rain be...

The weather took a turn for the better this week, so I didn’t have to travel 400 miles to get warm. The 30th annual Alston + Bird LLP Corporate Cup Half Marathon started and finished at the Childress Klein YMCA, which to my surprise wasn’t one of those old buildings that smelled like my 8th grade gym socks, but rather it is located in Wachovia Bank’s corporate headquarters in the Wachovia Tower in Charlotte, North Carolina. We didn’t exactly get to run through the building — the race was outside — but the weather was absolutely perfect with early morning temperatures in the low 50s and a high of about 77 in the afternoon. It was only my second half marathon, and if you’ve been keeping up with my running exploits (and I know you haven’t), you’ll remember that at my first Half Mary, Thunder Road, I had to use the bathroom at about mile 8 and finished in 2:01:05, so for this one my goal was to skip my morning coffee (what a genius) and forego the bathroom stop, thereby increasing my chan...