Med-City Miscellany

I forgot to mention something in yesterday's post. There are two runners that I will christen Outstanding Young Athletes. 1) Brianna Anshus ran her first marathon on Sunday, running a 4:06. I think that's such a huge accomplishment. And an outstanding time. 2) Cory Hamernik, proud papa is Ross, took 40 minutes off his marathon time running a 3:45. His first marathon was Med-City last year. Wow. Kudos to these young people (20-somethings).

And here are some miscellaneous photos, most from my perch at 11th Ave and 9th St NE.

I think the Post-Bulletin gave excellent coverage to the event. Thank you!!

I also got an email from someone who must read my blog with more info about the little gal who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor (also covered in the P-B). LOTS of folks were wearin the I heart Shannon Ts. There is a blog for Shannon: http://ohara-family.blogspot.com/ My prayers are with her, her family, her caregivers. What a sad situation.

Someone from the BAA called me today. They declined to give Paul Melby an honorary posthumous Boston Marathon entry. I'm very sad about that. At least I tried.

I met Jean, George, Ann-Kristin and Julie at Bob's Smokestack Ribs this evening for dinner. Wow. I've never had shredded chicken that was as moist and flavorful as that was. Out. Of. This. World. Had the Jo Jo Potatoes.

The rub they use before smoking is delicious. The server wouldn't divulge what kind of wood they use to smoke. But it takes 4-6 hours for the complete process ... rub, wait, smoke, wait, slice/shred. We met after they'd gone to the newest "Pirates" movie. I passed on the movie. The reviews haven't been good and I'm not a huge Pirates (series) fan. Thursday, A-K and Jean and I are going up to the cities to visit the King Tut exhibit at the Science Museum among other things. Should be a fun day.

Last night, 25 of us "dined" together at my house so people could get a chance to visit with Ann-Kristin while she is here visiting from Norway. A fun evening. It was potluck.

I made strawberry rhubarb pie (all got eaten), chocolate chip cookies (all got eaten right off the cooling rack before I even served dessert ... including one burned panful!) and pictured above, rhubarb cheesecake. The recipe is from Chickadee Cottage in Lake City. It's really a good one. Here it is:

Crust:
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter (I use 1/4 - 1/3 c.)
1/4 c. sugar
Rhubarb layer:
3 c. rhubarb
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. flour

Cream layer:
1/2 c. sugar
12 oz. cream cheese (I used light)
2 eggs

Topping:
8 oz. sour cream (I used light)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

For crust: Mix flour, sugar and butter. Pat into sprayed 10" pie plate or 9" springform pan.

For rhubarb layer: Combine rhubarb, sugar and flour; toss lightly and spoon into crust. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

For cream layer: With electric mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then pour over hot rhubarb layer. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until set. Combine topping ingredients; spread over hot cheesecake. Chill.

I'm going to call it a day. Good night bleaders ...

Oh What Fun It Is ...

... to Run!!

I ran 21.17 miles this morning, and there was nothing pretty about it. It was warm, humid and windy. And I wasn't well hydrated or fueled. But the weekend belongs to a very nice guy and very talented runner.

... to Win!!

My buddy Ron Giles who won the Med-City Marathon yesterday in a time of 2:44:41.

I am so happy for him. He worked very hard for this win. I am glad that he won it this year, when the race was given a huge shot in the arm by Wally and Peg. It was a first-class event and I highly recommend it for next year!!

... to Volunteer!

I started the day at 4:30 AM when the alarm went off so that I could get to Byron by 5 AM for packet pick-up.

The day turned out to be very favorable ... cool, cloudy, not too windy. Had today's weather rolled in yesterday instead it would have been miserable. I didn't do much volunteering in Byron actually as there were plenty of volunteers. I guess I mostly walked around chatting with friends and taking pictures. :-)

My camera stash!

The Chatty Chicks

Team R.E.D.

Jim and Paul

After watching the start, ...



Pacer Joe



Pacer Jim

I went home to get warmer clothes on ... pants, a next-to-skin top, my volunteer T, a hooded sweatshirt and a jacket. Perfect running weather. :-) Then I watched the runners at 2nd St and County 22 for a few minutes before heading to my course marshal location.

Half marathon leader



Ian Lanza



Ron Giles

Jeff Pasternak

Laura Lenz

Then it was out to my post on 11th Ave NE and 9th St.

Thats' Kevin on the right. I can't remember the officer's name on the left. We chatted quite a bit when the runners weren't coming through. When Ron came by here he was still in second place by about a minute and a half. But I knew the leader wasn't going to be able to maintain that pace for almost 13 more miles. I was hoping that Ron would run the race he'd planned and not try to catch him. And that's exactly what he did. Ron caught him right at 20 miles. :-) Hoo rah!! I posted a video clip from Jose of Ron finishing on Facebook and it should be visible to everyone. There's a lot of emotion in that roughly one minute of footage. I don't know who's happier ... Ron or Wally and Peg. And that's a pretty neat thing ...

I've got lots of photos which I should put on a slideshow. I have way to many to post individually. But here's a fun one of Jim Li.

When the last runner came by, I went to the finish. Peg let me in the finish area so I could give Ron a big hug. Thank you Peg. Then I made my way over to the circle drive. Here's a cute photo of Sara.

... To be Part of a Team!!

Here are the Team R.E.D. relay teams celebrating their accomplishments for the day.



I went home, changed into running clothes and then made my way back to the finish line by 12:30 to see Ron and the Fab 4 get their awards. Trevor, Jeff, Dan and Andy won the 4-person relay. Hoo yah!!

Ron and his parents

Wally, Ron, Peg

Team Minimized Cranium Drag

Home to shower and time to hit the after parties. First, Ron's. Ran out of time to make it out to Byron. Then to Peg and Wally's.

... to Drive!!

I actually got to drive Wally's red BMW convertible. SWEET.

Then home to make cookies and finally off to Pasternak's ...

... to Share a Lovely Evening With Friends!!

What a fun, relaxing evening on a beautiful patio overlooking rural SW Rochester.

Erin, Heidi, Andy, Jeff, Carter, Dan

Carole, Erin, Heidi

Trevor and Helen

Andrew

Jeff and Carole had an amazing spread. They get these sausages from a market up in the cities (downtown Mpls. but I can't remember the name ... across from Punch Pizza). Pierogis. Sauteed peppers and zucchni. Yum. Double yum.

Trevor. What can I say. All evening as we sat around the fire we heard stories about all the things that he's been impaled with in his head. Shot in the back (through a Big Wheel seat) with a pellet gun. And so it goes. And he lived to tell about it! At one point in the evening, I heard a loud thud up on the dec. Turns out Trevor walked right through the screen door. It was SO FUNNY. Poor Trevor. He felt so bad. But I still LOL just thinking about it. We're not laughing AT you Trevor, we're laughing WITH you. :-)

Trevor

They did get it back on track. I got home about 11:15 PM. A long, but most enjoyable day.

I had 25 friends over for dinner this evening. More on that tomorrow. For now ...

... to Sleep!

Med-City Prep, Redux

I feel like I ran a marathon today. Seems like standing still tires my legs out just about as much as running does. Early AM: 10.15 miles, 4 of them with Jean, John and Ann-Kristin, here visiting from Norway!! It's great to have her back. She said it still feels like home. :-)



I cropped myself out ...

 She's just about talked me into running the 10-miler at Chester Woods next weekend. She is. :-) Then it was home to make batch #1 of cookies ... Double Chocolate Chunk, Ron's favorite. That's potluck number one for tomorrow afternoon. Ran up to Target for a few things, then back to the post office, then home for a few minutes before going downtown to pick up my volunteer shirt before heading to my course marshal post for the Med-City 5K.

Seemed like a good turnout for the 5K. Lots of folks wearing I heart Shannon Ts. I asked one gal what that was about ... they were wearing them for someone who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. There were a lot of them.

I parked over by the water stop and stopped and chatted with Deb Krause for a few minutes before heading to the Civic Center to help with packet pickup.

It was fun to see the jumbotron and all the spectators still at the finish line. Exciting!!

Spotted at the expo ...


Kuniaki

Jim and Dan

Carrie Tollefson

3 of the Fab 4 (Dan, Trevor, Jeff)

 

Andy and Bill

Tomorrow I report to the gym at the Byron middle school at 5 AM for packet pickup. Then it's off to my (new) course marshal location, 11th Ave and 9th St NE. Busy day today, busier day tomorrow. So I better call it quits.

Toodles!