The Old Runner

Warm weather lover that I am, I was really looking forward to this race. My son Joe lives just outside Honolulu, and of course the main purpose of our trip was to visit him and his family, but I always like to visit when there's a race nearby that looks interesting. We spent the first couple nights at Joe's house then the night before the race moved to the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel, which is right at the beach and just a block from the race site. By the time the sun rose at 6:44 a.m., the race had been going for well over an hour. I remember thinking at about 8 miles into the race that it finally seemed to be comfortably light outside. I had brought my video glasses along with the intention of recording at least the last part of the race, after the sun rose, but about three or four miles into the race as I was holding the glasses I felt them come apart. I didn't have time to examine them so I just stuck them in my pocket. After the race I was able to look at them more c...

I would always prefer sleeping in on a cold Saturday morning, but the Spencer Mountain 10-Miler is kind of a special race. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's the challenging hills in the last half, or the fact that it's only about 3 miles from my house, or maybe it because a lot of my running friends from nearby are there as well as other friends who drive from quite a distance to get here, or maybe it's just a combination of all of that. Whatever the reason, it's a race that I'll get out in the cold and run, guy-who-hates-cold-weather that I am. I arrived at Warlick School, the site of the start and finish line, about 45 minutes before the start of the race, plenty early enough to get in the school gym to pick up my shirt and talk to friends, but not quite early enough to get in the school bus parking lot so I ended up parking in the big field, which is an issue if it's muddy but since it doesn't rain anymore it was perfectly dry. The 5k and the ...

This was the 4th annual Earl Scruggs Center Rhythm and Roots 10k and 5k. Having spent countless hours playing the banjo for the past 40 years and trying to emulate the sounds of Earl Scruggs, I have a deep appreciation for his music. Earl set the standard for banjo playing back in the 1940s and undoubtedly has been the most influential banjo player who ever lived. But I digress. I arrived at the race site early and parked right across the street from the Don Gibson Theater and the finish line (Don was another music legend from Shelby). Both the pre- and post-race activities where held in the lobby of the theater, which was great, but to register on race morning the registration was set up about a block and a half away in a little building (I think they called it the Well House) up by the courthouse. Registration went smoothly and I loved the race T-shirt. With the combination of two of my passions (running and banjos) on the shirt, it's one that I'll actually wear. As usu...