Just Like Old Times
This morning, I sent my entry in for a race that is coming up. It's a race steeped in tradition, and held much like races used to be held. On the race documentation, the course is referred to as a 12 mile or 11.6 mile course. We're told that there is one hill at mile 8, at around mile 5 of the course, the first year I ran it, I realized the hill at 8 was gonna be a doozy, because throughout the 5, I'd been working my way through steady rollers. I wasn't disappointed.
In the old days, races were held on open roads, because no police force would close a perfectly good road for a bunch of wackos running along in their boxers. This race keeps that tradition alive. After the race, you get soda, some chowder...sorry, this is New England...chowdah (and it's made right, not vegetable soup crap the Yankee fans will tell you is chowder, nor one of those sissified creamy things, this is the real deal, made with clam broth, milk, onions, celery, potatoes, and clams) and after a long race, it tastes "wicked good!"
Old time races were also cheap to enter, without needing to pay police or buy T-shirts, there wasn't much cost involved...a few trophies or medals, that was it. If any of you want to come by, to enjoy this old-time race (it's in eastern CT on August 5th), please click the link at the bottom of this post for details. If you think you're a good enough runner to get comped, you may be right, fill in the entry along with a note, and if the race management thinks you're worthy, you'll get a number without charge.
Finally, a word about this race, it's held to honor Johnny Kelley (the younger), the 1957 Boston Marathon champ and two-time (maybe three) Olympian. Kelley lives in the area (as do several other former top-flight runners), and most will be participating in the race in some form. If you notice the "WLMK" on the application, it's not a local radio station, rather, it's there because the race management wants to also remember John's wife, Jessie, who passed away a few years back. The Kelley's, significantly through Mrs. Kelley's efforts, made their home a welcoming place for area runners. The "WLMK" stands for "We Love Mrs. Kelley," a rememberance of a woman who did a lot for the area running community.
Any of you who want to find me, look for the guy with the Shore AC shirt.
Race app with details here (pdf format).
In the old days, races were held on open roads, because no police force would close a perfectly good road for a bunch of wackos running along in their boxers. This race keeps that tradition alive. After the race, you get soda, some chowder...sorry, this is New England...chowdah (and it's made right, not vegetable soup crap the Yankee fans will tell you is chowder, nor one of those sissified creamy things, this is the real deal, made with clam broth, milk, onions, celery, potatoes, and clams) and after a long race, it tastes "wicked good!"
Old time races were also cheap to enter, without needing to pay police or buy T-shirts, there wasn't much cost involved...a few trophies or medals, that was it. If any of you want to come by, to enjoy this old-time race (it's in eastern CT on August 5th), please click the link at the bottom of this post for details. If you think you're a good enough runner to get comped, you may be right, fill in the entry along with a note, and if the race management thinks you're worthy, you'll get a number without charge.
Finally, a word about this race, it's held to honor Johnny Kelley (the younger), the 1957 Boston Marathon champ and two-time (maybe three) Olympian. Kelley lives in the area (as do several other former top-flight runners), and most will be participating in the race in some form. If you notice the "WLMK" on the application, it's not a local radio station, rather, it's there because the race management wants to also remember John's wife, Jessie, who passed away a few years back. The Kelley's, significantly through Mrs. Kelley's efforts, made their home a welcoming place for area runners. The "WLMK" stands for "We Love Mrs. Kelley," a rememberance of a woman who did a lot for the area running community.
Any of you who want to find me, look for the guy with the Shore AC shirt.
Race app with details here (pdf format).
posted by Scooter at 2:26 PM
1 Comments:
Sounds like an awesome race. I wish I was still living in the area.
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