The Old Runner

photo © 2010 Luiz Fernando Reis | more info (via: Wylio ) If you have a sneaking  SUSPICION  that I’m going to the  TROUBLE  of trying to fit in all of the Elvis song titles into this post that I can think of, forget it. First of all, it’s way  TOO MUCH  work.  IT HURTS ME  that some people have such  SUSPICIOUS MINDS , but  THAT’S ALL RIGHT . Early in the day I told Linda we would need to leave in plenty of time for the race since it was  WAY DOWN  in Albemarle, and she said, “If you  LOVE ME  you’ll let me take a nap before we leave. I said to her, “This is  ONE NIGHT  race I don’t want to miss.  RECONSIDER BABY . You can always take a nap tomorrow.” So she said to me, “ TOMORROW IS A LONG TIME , and  I JUST CAN’T HELP BELIEVING  that if I get a nap I won’t be  ALL SHOOK UP  during the race and I’ll be able to run better and maybe not take any walk breaks. I told her not to wo...

The Freedom Run 5k is part of Oakboro’s annual week-long 4th of July celebration.  Oakboro  is a small town in rural Stanly County with a population of about 1200 residents. We had never been there before and were surprised that it didn’t seem nearly as small as it sounds, apparently because being in a rural area without a lot of towns it brings in quite a few visitors from outlying communities. Albemarle is up the road about 15 miles away, and we were happy to find out that Peter Asciutto of  Vac & Dash  was doing the timing for the race (although the race was actually managed by the local fire department). As described on the Active.com race page, the course was “pretty flat,” with just a few little hills along the way. It was hot as usual for any race this time of year, but much of the course was along the trails of the Oakboro District Park and provided some much needed shade. I heard a few complaints from runners who didn’t like running along the crushed gr...

Are you kiddin’ me? I scoffed when Linda said I resembled a plucked chicken in my new racing singlet. There’s nothing quite like being really old and feeling really young (which I am and I do), but when I found out that April 1st was Susan Boyle’s birthday and I’m nine years older than her, for a few minutes at least, reality set in and spring chicken took on a whole new meaning. As I dreamed a dream of days gone by, with shoelaces untied we headed up to “The 1st Ever Vac & Dash April Fools Day 5k Classic” in Albemarle. Although it’s only about 60 miles from Gastonia, we were probably halfway there before we realized that neither of us had actually ever been to Albemarle. In a mixture of geodyslexia and shriveled brain cells that were partly due to age and partly to being a survivor of the sixties (the resulting concoction smelled a little like mothballs), I had confused Albemarle with Asheboro, and only by the grace of GPS did we end up at the race instead of the zoo. It was our ...