Halloween Eve Night Run

Brian and I met at the Pine Lane parking lot at 6:30 tonight to go for a run. The plan was to run towards Boston Store until we met Trevor, someone Brian ran with before, and Jamie. We got half a mile out until we saw them, so we turned around with them to run back to Pine Lane. From there we ran to Boston Store and Brian and I turned around as Jamie and Trevor were done with their run. We decided to run on the Towpath back since it was dark, cold, and we wanted to drink beer & eat at the Winking Lizard! We ended up with 8 miles exactly on Brian's Garmin when we got back to our cars. I didn't have a light tonight, so I just used everyone else's light to watch out for roots. Luckily I didn't fall once. I'm going to have to buy either a headlamp or hand light soon before I have a serious fall though.

Deer by Pine Lane

Jamie & Trevor

West Branch BT Night Run

I met Brian, Bob and Slim Jim tonight at West Branch to go on a night run. We headed out on the Buckeye Trail which I've never run on at West Branch. The trail was interesting and a nice change of scenery. Everytime there is a night run and it involves Gombobu, something crazy will happen and you better not expect to stay on the trail. Tonight was no exception! We got to a point where there was a decent-size stream and the trail on the otherside. So what do we do in 35 degree weather and snow flurries? We cross the stream of course! And then we slosh around in it for a bit, then head upstream towards the lake. The mud got pretty bad, almost like quicksand by the lake. A few times I sunk down to my knees in it! After we got back, Bill Losey was in the parking lot waiting for us and we hung out for awhile.

Jim Harris

Tunnel

Stream & Tunnel

Tree Farm Trail Run

My brother and I decided to explore a new trail tonight and drove to the Tree Farm Trail which is located just off of Rt. 303. It consists of a 2 3/4 mile loop. When we first got there, this guy who was fishing told my brother and I to be careful since there have been reports of a mountain lion in the area! For most of the run, we were paranoid about any sounded we heard. Click here for a news article about the mountain lion sightings that have occurred. We ran 2 loops, each in opposite direction and ended the run with 5.5 miles.

Who knows, he may be lurking out there!!

McCain-Palin Rally

Today I decided to skip my one class and go to the McCain-Palin rally in Green, OH. It was being held at Green High School. When I got there, the stands were packed and the football field had alot of people on it. It was cool because they handed out red, white, and blue shirts to the people in stands and arranged them to make the Republican flag. The candidates said the same speeches they've been giving and mentioned "Joe the Plumber" about 85 times. Below are some pictures of the rally.

McCain leaving

The "Straight-Talk Express" (Haha!)

Columbus Marathon 2008

This weekend my family and I took a trip down to Columbus to watch my sister Jamie run the marathon. I would've definitely joined her but I had a quad injury not too long ago and not enough time to train.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel which is the host hotel for the race and across from the Red Roof Inn, where we stayed last year. We arrived in Columbus Saturday at noon and went to the expo shortly after.

Our hotel

The Nesquik bunny and Jamie at the expo

After the expo, we met Glenn, Jamie's friend, at the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner.




Later that night, my dad and I went for a walk. We were going to see if any bars were showing the Pavlik fight, but unfortunately none were. We stopped and got a drink at Gordon Biersch Brewery & Restaurant. I got the Hefeweizen - a light sparkling wheat beer with a crisp, refreshing flavor - and my dad got the Marzen - a smooth, mildly sweet, auburn colored lager.

The morning of the race was very cool with temps in the 40s and supposed to raise into the 50s. Perfect weather for runners, but not spectators. Some other people I knew running in the marathon were Levi and Tasha, two former teammates at Clarion, and my boss from FirstEnergy. This was their first marathon for all three of them.

Jamie at about 13 miles

My boss at 13 miles

Jamie finished in a new PR of 3:19:28 beating her previous best by nearly 15 minutes!! Levi finished in a blistering 2:43:55 and Tasha broke 3 hours running 2:59:22. My boss ran 4:10:31. Congratulations to all the runners!

Levi finishing

Jamie finishing

Tasha finishing

One thing I really love about Columbus is the cool artwork and advertisements painted on the sides of buildings. Below are a few pictures of some:

Myrrdin Winery

Tonight I met my brother and parents at Myrrdin Winery located in Berlin Center just east of Lake Milton. I've been here a few other times with my parents, but this was my brother's first time. They have a nice back patio area with comfortable chairs that overlook the lake. Our favorite spot is an area with a tent overtop and secluded a bit (shown above). The temperature was nice today in the 70s and the crisp air felt great as the sun went down.

The lit path to the winery.