Sightings abound!

LUCKY 13 5K and 10K tonight at Running Room at 6:30 PM. No frills. No fee. No awards. But hey, it's free! And a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of your fellow runners running their FIRST 5K or 10K. We were all new to the sport at some time as well. ;-) You can also still join the half marathon clinic which meets at 6:00 PM. They're training for the Rochester Half Marathon, a premiere event in SE MN!! Just in at Running Room, lemonade flavored Ultima, which will be the beverage at Grandma's marathon. The Garmin 405 is in at Running Room. There's one left.

Another Brookings marathon update: Paul and Deb Thomford also ran Brookings, missed a turn and ended up running an extra half mile. :-(

I've got leads on a few newsletter stories for July, but am always looking for more. Doesn't have to be literary genius! Anything having to do with running is just great with me. Race reports don't have to be about marathons. You get the picture. Your photos and stories are ALL welcome! Color newsletters for 2007 and 2008 have been posted in the members only section of the RTC website.

I just heard on the radio that Thursday is 'Commuter Choice' day. I guess the whole week is commuter choice week from what google turned up. You can register for a drawing at this website. Don't have much more information, but do choose alternate transportation whenever it's feasible. Your body and your pocketbook will thank you for it.

I haven't mentioned an RTC unsung hero for a while, but at this time of year, the RTC treasurer Jean Murray deserves mention. Every check for every one of our events passes through her hands, gets stamped 'for deposit only', gets taken to the bank and is recorded in our books. That's a lot of checks, let me tell you. Thank you, Jean!

I have had a light work schedule for a couple of days so today I baked some cookies and headed down to the Y for the noon run. Dan (take my picture PLEASE!) Edwards, Jim (I just ran Ice Age 50-miler on Saturday) Benike and Gary (I LOVE COOKIES!) Malat are pictured above. Jim Martinson joined us shortly after. We just ran 2.7 miles around Soldier's Field. I checked the trash situation. There wasn't much, even with the south winds. Not worth scheduling a pick-up. It just so happens that a Med-City water stop meeting was happening at noon, so I got a few more photo ops.

Let's meet Bob Miller:

Family - Married with a lovely wife & 2 daughters (7 & 9)

Hobbies - Triathlons & making home movies (8mm -> DVD conversions)

Languages you speak - English and broken spanish

How did you get started in running - 15 year lapse since high school. Friend requested I train with him for a triathlon for 4 weeks.

Miles per week on average - marathon season (50-60), triathlon season (25-30)

Your defacto, comfortable as a broken-in shoe training route? Long (Century HS, down 37th, up West River Parkway, around East Circle Drive, up/down Bamber Valley, back on running trail past Running Room up to Silver Lake, then County Road 2 back up to Century ... makes right at a 20 mile run). Short (Century High School to Churchhill Elementary down Broadway, around Silver Lake Park, back to CR 2, up hill to Century High ... makes a perfect 5 mile run)

How often do you run it? Long - 3x per 16 week marathon training Short - 1-2 times a week

Favorite carbo loading food? Spaghetti along with a side of Lipton's Pasta

Favorite indulgence food? Starbursts (ice cream if I don't want to run for a couple of days)

Next race? Med City Marathon

Running goals? Sub 3 marathon (not this year), Finish Ironman Wisconsin

Running dream? Run competitively with Rob Mitchell, Mark Carey, Chris Chen, Chris Koch, (it could go on and on) Compete & finish Ironman Hawaii (Ford Championship)

Spreading Joy. Changing Lives. --Bob Bardwell