Senior Olympian Sprinter

If the Canyon was not enough torture I ran a 5K on Thanksgiving morning.    I run this race every year to support the local charity --Graceworks and to remind myself of why I am a sprinter.   I am a sprinter because I cannot get enough air into my system to do longer distances....period.  This year we did run the complete 5.0K course and I finished in 30:56, which was 13 of 43 in my age group.  I have always be trying for beating 30 minutes but I have too many excuses this year, and they do not matter because they are just excuses.  Last year they cut off a section because the lead out people screwed up badly.   We ran a 4.45 K last year and I was really fast in comparison!  The weather was substantially cooler this year with a race time temperature( 8:00 AM)  of 30 degrees and clear. There was over 3000 that started the race and it grows a little bigger each year.   The event is well organized and is easy...

https://youtu.be/OyK1yZz56zg This YouTube link is to a 10 minute video of our group finishing the Rim to Rim hike.   I was wearing my GoPro on my head and tried to give a flavor of the scenery and the physical nature of the hike.  The person behind me is Patrick Church our guide and we were yapping about various stuff as we finished up.   https://youtu.be/z4qB0ZA5G14 This link is for the trip to Plateau Point and Colorado River view Enjoy

I just finished a fantastic adventure when a family group hiked the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to the South Rim.  The group was 7 hikers and two guides.  The guides Chad Teerink and Patrick Church were fantastic hosts and a lot of fun to boot.   Good Morning at Phantom Ranch The hikers were my daughter Rosemary, step son Aaron, brother in law Buck (aka Glen) and his daughter (Heather) and her friend (Leslie). Emily was also added to group and she fit in very quickly to the quirky fun.   Emily was trying to go on another trip but her tent mate was having a melt down and just could not make it and she jumped in with our group because she was serious about getting to see the Canyon.    The actual hiking is done over a four day period and is a great way to see the Canyon.   We used Just Roughing It outfitters from Phoenix to guide our trip.  In the past we had stayed at the Phantom Ranch near the ...

Life is a journey.   Some people make many trips, some people never come back to the same place twice and others will stay in one place and make a different in that place.  I have moved around a lot in my life chasing opportunity and I am very satisfied with that life.   I went to a funeral over the weekend of someone who stayed put and was a big influence on my life and was a neighbor for over 30 years when I lived in Cooperdale, Ohio.  Judy Cunningham was 75 years old and died last week and was someone who made a difference.  She had 6 kids, a throng of grand and great grand kids, was involved in building one of the best Brown Swiss dairies in the world and was a giver in the community.   She was also a fantastic neighbor and will be missed by a lot of people, including me.  I could ramble on about her cooking and chocolate chip cookies, but some people lead by example she could walk the walk.  Life in Cooperdale was be...