First off, I want to thank the City of Bedford. No one has ever thrown a party for my birthday, and while that may still be true, I can now say an entire city just threw a parade for me. Never in a million years did I see that coming. Floats, lights, crowds of people waving and cheering as I took my evening jog... forgive me, I'm choking up right now. You guys are the best, really!
In the words of Mike Myers, "I'm verklempt!"
The day actually started when Jimmy, Rand, and I took a short trip down to Loogootee. Debbie (of John T. fame) hosted a 5k benefit run this morning, and as it was her first try at a race, we felt we should support her. It almost didn't happen though... when I awoke at 4:45 to the sound of sleet pounding my window, I couldn't imagine making the trip. Thankfully that let up.
There weren't a lot of people there, maybe 30-40. It was a nice group though, and for a startup race, maybe the best thing that could have happened. It kept things manageable. The three of us started the race, quickly moving to the front within the first half-mile, with only 4th grader little Lucas Britton hanging with us.
Okay, maybe it is my birthday, and maybe I was tempted to go for a rare birthday win. But how do you stomp on the dreams of a little kid? Especially a little red-headed boy. You can't. You just can't. As I always say (sometimes), "Don't punch down."
So we coached him through it. We didn't hit his time goal, but we did let him sprint to the win. Jimmy's competitive nature did get the better of him - too late. He began to protest loudly and persistently about the illegal nature of Lucas's shoes. I don't know what the deal was - sounded like sour grapes to me. It was Jimmy being Jimmy.
He did wind up snaking me on the awards. Lucas was first, Jimmy 2nd, I was 3rd, Rand 4th. Rand was proud he was 4th, because EVERYONE knows 4th is better than 2nd (well, everyone whose name rhymes with "penny"). My poor luck was to be in the male 51-59 age group. If only I'd been 50. Or 60. Not sure where those folks wound up award-wise, but I would have had a shot.
Later we got together again for the Santa Hat Run. Things got off to a weird start when a busload of band kids made for our gym doors as soon as we opened. Someone had called Jimmy asking for permission to let the kids in to use the restroom. It's an awkward thing; we didn't have permission to do that, but at the same time we wanted to be human. Jimmy told them to come in, get dressed, use the restroom, then go back out. They looked shocked. We tried over and over to explain the situation, but they still looked shocked.
Later their band director came in. He started to really take liberties when he directed his kids out onto the hardwood. This was too much, and before I could jump up Jimmy was all over it. One more time he tried to explain about permission, to which the band director declared defiantly, "I have permission!" "From whom?" I asked. I really needed to know this more than he realized. He gave me a name that in nearly 30 years of working for the corporation I'd never heard. Once again Jimmy jumped in with "She does not have authority over this facility."
Jimmy was as diplomatic as only Jimmy can be, and though dissatisfied, the band director eventually accepted the directions. I want to make clear in no way did any of us wish to be harsh or unfair to anyone related to the bands. We were caught between a rock and a hard place. We had very specific permissions, and there was no custodian on duty. We were prepared for a certain level of traffic, We would have accepted the additional traffic, and did. What we could NOT have was the public on the new hardwood floor with street shoes.
It all worked out in the end, and the run portion was very well attended. I was glad to see many of my running friends, community, and even some of my girls' team present. I was especially glad to see Dale Lynn and Mark Ryan there. They've been through so much lately, and it was a blessing to have them there.
The weather was very nice and I can't say that it could have gone any smoother - the small band issue aside. That's easily solved, of course; next year we'll simply broaden the permission.
In the words of Mike Myers, "I'm verklempt!"
The day actually started when Jimmy, Rand, and I took a short trip down to Loogootee. Debbie (of John T. fame) hosted a 5k benefit run this morning, and as it was her first try at a race, we felt we should support her. It almost didn't happen though... when I awoke at 4:45 to the sound of sleet pounding my window, I couldn't imagine making the trip. Thankfully that let up.
There weren't a lot of people there, maybe 30-40. It was a nice group though, and for a startup race, maybe the best thing that could have happened. It kept things manageable. The three of us started the race, quickly moving to the front within the first half-mile, with only 4th grader little Lucas Britton hanging with us.
Okay, maybe it is my birthday, and maybe I was tempted to go for a rare birthday win. But how do you stomp on the dreams of a little kid? Especially a little red-headed boy. You can't. You just can't. As I always say (sometimes), "Don't punch down."
So we coached him through it. We didn't hit his time goal, but we did let him sprint to the win. Jimmy's competitive nature did get the better of him - too late. He began to protest loudly and persistently about the illegal nature of Lucas's shoes. I don't know what the deal was - sounded like sour grapes to me. It was Jimmy being Jimmy.
He did wind up snaking me on the awards. Lucas was first, Jimmy 2nd, I was 3rd, Rand 4th. Rand was proud he was 4th, because EVERYONE knows 4th is better than 2nd (well, everyone whose name rhymes with "penny"). My poor luck was to be in the male 51-59 age group. If only I'd been 50. Or 60. Not sure where those folks wound up award-wise, but I would have had a shot.
Later we got together again for the Santa Hat Run. Things got off to a weird start when a busload of band kids made for our gym doors as soon as we opened. Someone had called Jimmy asking for permission to let the kids in to use the restroom. It's an awkward thing; we didn't have permission to do that, but at the same time we wanted to be human. Jimmy told them to come in, get dressed, use the restroom, then go back out. They looked shocked. We tried over and over to explain the situation, but they still looked shocked.
Later their band director came in. He started to really take liberties when he directed his kids out onto the hardwood. This was too much, and before I could jump up Jimmy was all over it. One more time he tried to explain about permission, to which the band director declared defiantly, "I have permission!" "From whom?" I asked. I really needed to know this more than he realized. He gave me a name that in nearly 30 years of working for the corporation I'd never heard. Once again Jimmy jumped in with "She does not have authority over this facility."
Jimmy was as diplomatic as only Jimmy can be, and though dissatisfied, the band director eventually accepted the directions. I want to make clear in no way did any of us wish to be harsh or unfair to anyone related to the bands. We were caught between a rock and a hard place. We had very specific permissions, and there was no custodian on duty. We were prepared for a certain level of traffic, We would have accepted the additional traffic, and did. What we could NOT have was the public on the new hardwood floor with street shoes.
It all worked out in the end, and the run portion was very well attended. I was glad to see many of my running friends, community, and even some of my girls' team present. I was especially glad to see Dale Lynn and Mark Ryan there. They've been through so much lately, and it was a blessing to have them there.
The weather was very nice and I can't say that it could have gone any smoother - the small band issue aside. That's easily solved, of course; next year we'll simply broaden the permission.
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