Thoughts in Random Patterns

Another Weekend, Another Marathon

After last weekend's Newport marathon, Brad did another one on back to back weekends in St. Louis, Missouri, completing #20.  The 50 marathons in 50 states quest is a great way to see the country, including places I wouldn't necessarily have gone to, including Bismarck, North Dakota.  I'd never been to St. Louis, and it was especially fun to be there when they're playing the world series, although we were glad the games were in Texas so we didn't have to deal with the crowds.

Brad ran #20 with Matt Shobe, who also ran the Huntsville, Alabama Rocket City Marathon with him in December 2008 for Brad's 14th marathon. In addition to being amazing (crazy?!) to run two marathons in two weekends, Brad's official time of 4:51:26 was considerably faster in the second weekend. 

Some St.Louis photos: 

 

The banner for the marathon, partially obscuring our view of the arch from the Ballpark Hilton: 

Runners from my window on the 19th floor: 

Matt and Brad after the race, looking pretty lively: 

Brad's next planned marathon is in Philadelphia in November, and will be the first one that I'm not there to sherpa for.  After 20 finishes, I figure he can manage without me?!?  

Newport Marathon

We spent the weekend with our longtime friends Warren and Ilana Katz at their house in Newport, Rhode Island so Brad could run his 19th marathon.  Warren and Brad ran the full marathon and Ilana ran the half and I cheered for them.

It rained hard when we arrived on Friday, but cleared off on Saturday and was clear but breezy during the race on Sunday. 

The ocean was quite lovely, although you can see the wind at the top of the waves in the second photo:

 

Another lovely thing about Newport is the stacked stone fences, which is often what you see in towns established in 1639. 

 

The runners before the race -

 

 Runners hitting the first hill next to one of those Newport mansions - 

Brad at the half - 

 

Taking a small break and still smiling - 

Warren at the half - 

 

Ilana at the finish of the half in an official time of 2:00:51, a personal best for her. 

Brad at the finish of the marathon with a new friend made in the final 3 miles of the race.  Brad's official time is 5:13:36.

 

Warren at the finish in a time of 5:40:46 for his first marathon ever. 

 

The gang, relieved to be standing still:

 

Next weekend Brad plans to run marathon #20 in St. Louis, Missouri.  I'll be there, cheering when it happens. 

 

Technically

I think this is the first snow of the winter, but I'm not sure it really counts.  It's more of an excuse to try out my new Leica camera -  

 

 

 

Surprised some deer at the edge of the meadow - 

 

The dogs almost knew the deer were out there - 

 

And the snow does keep coming down, so it may add up to something after all.