9. VALENTINE '09 10K

COSTLY PRIZE - See this little piece of glass? It cost four months of pounding the streets every other day, rain, snow and shine; a bunch of expensive clothing, footwear and gadgets; immeasurable pain and suffering plus getting up early on a chilly, rainy Saturday morning. But that makes it pretty precious, and I'd do it all again!

The funny part is that I'd have gotten it with hardly any of the above 'cause it was given for being the OLDEST guy to just cross the finish line!

The prize included a big two quart bottle of champagne, which really doesn't fit conveniently into an active Mormon's diet, so I politely refused it and gave it back to him! He was really tickled by that and promptly hid it for his future retrieval.

I was also FIRST in my age group, but being the ONLY one in my age group helped a lot there! I don't think my time of 1:11 qualifies me for the Boston Marathon, but I'm working on that! There were about 65 or so runners competing in the race during which we ran twice over a 5K course laid out in Steilacoom Park across from Western State Hospital.

They had included a couple steep hills that really got the heart pumping!

It was great having granddaughter Audree doing the run also. I forgot to tell her she really should let grandpa beat her across the finish line, but I'm guessing it would be too hard to tell her friends that her 71 year old grandpa beat her, so I'm not insisting on any concessions from family running with me.

My lower back aches a little bit and one calf has a knot in it that I'm gradually rolling out, so things are coming along just fine. Now to prepare for the half marathon coming up in five weeks! Oh joy!