Dead Last at the Jingle Bell Run!
But loving every single minute of it! (Well actually, I was dead last by gun time but I finished in front of two runners - Don Marlin and Elizabeth Hill - by chip time!)
Since I may never run a 6-minute mile or better, I'm afraid that my running legacy in Houston will be "aren't you the guy who ran the Jingle Bell Run carrying a cardboard cutout of Joe Paterno?" Then again, who knows? I might get good at it with some practice!
Earlier this year, Steve Shepard approached me - as well as every Houston Strider - about being on a centipede team for the Bayou City Classic 10K and I told Steve that I just wasn't at a point to spend money for a race and not go out trying to gun for my best time.
My primary purpose, though, was to go out and pace Waverly. Her Thanksgiving week of training was pretty tough for her. Last week, we sort of backed off some; however, I felt like a 5K Saturday morning, a basketball game at 5 p.m. and a 5-mile run (done as a race) would be a good final prelude to two (2) weeks of long runs.
After I had registered for the Jingle Bell Run late Friday morning and I got home and started to play with the foam antlers, I realized that I could have some fun (therefore my mindset had changed from earlier about having fun), put the antlers on the "Stand Up Joe" and carry it throughout the race. And again, pace Waverly. (As I found out later, yeah right!)
The weekend was so hectic (and positive) that I'm not sure if I intimated the idea with the rest of the Houston Running Bloggers that came to my house for breakfast Saturday morning.
We tried to use some packing tape to affix to the forehead to keep the antlers in place, but it wouldn't stick and I was worrying about defacing Joe. (Those cardboard cutouts aren't cheap. They're something like $25 with some - or most - of the proceeds going to Penn State's library fund.) So I decided that clothespins would work better!
I had e-mailed Jingle Bell Run race director Melissa Levin on Saturday that if she saw someone with a "StandUp Joe" that it would be me! (She is also doing PR work for the Houston Marathon and arranged the interview of Waverly for the Spring Observer.)
As I made my way from the parking garage with Joe, I got all kinds of interesting looks but mostly a lot of good-heared laughs. I can promise you that many people were talking when they got home or in the office today, "You won't believe what this guy ran with in the Jingle Bell Run ....."
We saw Lisa, Cassie, Sam and Keith before the race as well as Karen Thibodeaux, Mike Mendeck, Vera Balic, Calvin and Joyce Stout and Gary and Denise Van Kuiken.
I really don't think people believed that I was actually going to run with that thing (I know some bloggers sure didn't!) although I kept telling people, "You laugh, but watch Joe come in first in the 75-80 age group!" (This was before I started running.)
As far as Waverly was concerned, I told her her plan was to keep running no matter what and to run the race as fast as she could without stopping to walk (i.e. nice and steady). I also had given her my watch so that she could track her mile splits since I wasn't going to be able to (thinking that I was going to be able to run with her).
The gun went off and we started towards the back. For much of the first mile, I was actually ahead of Waverly and thinking, "This isn't going to be too bad" but I was also worried about any wind. Right before the first mile marker, she passed me and I actually was close enough to tell her to hit her watch (but she didn't see it.)
One woman that was running and walking towards the back asked me who it was and she cackled, "I know who Joe Paterno is. Wait until I tell my husband that I ran a race with Joe Paterno!"
As I got to around mile 2 where Sarah was taking pictures, I had done a lot of walking and running as I had already many times switched the cardboard cutout and football from arm to arm like a running back. Even though the cutout wasn't heavy, the resistance of the headwind going out Allen Parkway made it feel like I was running lifting weights.
Sarah couldn't believe it! She told me that she saw Waverly go by and that she thought she missed me! (No, Dad was still running behind!)
As I made the turn, headed back towards downtown and got to Sarah's spot again, she told me, "You're insane!" I was going to stop for water at the only water stop, but they had run out. I seriously needed some but I was going to ask if they had any for Joe. :) At the same time, I was thinking that since I was at the back of the pack that when I crossed the finish line that I could set Joe down and then spike the football as if I had broke the plane of the goal line.
As I approached the table, I saw a sea of people ahead of me and then I realized that a lot of them were walkers from another start time. I also figured that 1.) there went the safety factor in spiking the football and 2.) I would have to dodge and weave through a lot of them carrying Joe. But, by that time (just before mile 4), I figured out that if I switched the cutout and the ball more frequently that I could keep running. So on I went passing all of these walkers (as I wondered why these folks would pay $20 a person to walk this course - other than to donate to a good cause).
I'm no more than 200 yards from making a last right hand turn onto Louisiana and towards the finish line when this older gentleman begins to run along side of me with a camera. I'm thinking to myself, "This is strange." So the guy gets ahead of me and I just decided to stop and give him the picture that he was looking for before taking off again. (More on that later!)
After I made the turn, I saw Ben Harvie pushing a stroller on the left hand side of the street (he ran the 30K earlier in the day like I had) and he was having a good laugh. Then I saw about five cameras, one of which was Karen Thibodeaux's. So I had the cardboard cutout in my left hand, the Penn State football in my right held high above my head and was going, "We are .... Penn State! We are .... Penn State!" the rest of the way in as I crossed the finish line!
Believe me, I had the attention of many!
One lady walked up to me and wanted her picture taken with me and JoePa. It turned out that she was a Penn State graduate and she knew where Altoona and Tyrone was. Then the gentleman that I saw earlier came up and introduced himself. He was Greg Kelley and ran the website for the Houston Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association! Go figure!
He ended up getting got a few more pictures of me and JoePa.
Then Keith, Cassie and Jessica, who I had seen just beyond mile 1 on the course as she had run in from Memorial Park, came walking up. I still don't think they really believed what they just saw! :)
After awhile, and as Louisiana Street began to clear out, Sarah had made her way back into the area and Karen got a picture of Keith, Cassie, Jessica, Sarah, Lisa, Waverly, myself and JoePa!
A fabulous day - and weekend - for the Houston Running Bloggers!
Since I may never run a 6-minute mile or better, I'm afraid that my running legacy in Houston will be "aren't you the guy who ran the Jingle Bell Run carrying a cardboard cutout of Joe Paterno?" Then again, who knows? I might get good at it with some practice!
Earlier this year, Steve Shepard approached me - as well as every Houston Strider - about being on a centipede team for the Bayou City Classic 10K and I told Steve that I just wasn't at a point to spend money for a race and not go out trying to gun for my best time.
My primary purpose, though, was to go out and pace Waverly. Her Thanksgiving week of training was pretty tough for her. Last week, we sort of backed off some; however, I felt like a 5K Saturday morning, a basketball game at 5 p.m. and a 5-mile run (done as a race) would be a good final prelude to two (2) weeks of long runs.
After I had registered for the Jingle Bell Run late Friday morning and I got home and started to play with the foam antlers, I realized that I could have some fun (therefore my mindset had changed from earlier about having fun), put the antlers on the "Stand Up Joe" and carry it throughout the race. And again, pace Waverly. (As I found out later, yeah right!)
The weekend was so hectic (and positive) that I'm not sure if I intimated the idea with the rest of the Houston Running Bloggers that came to my house for breakfast Saturday morning.
We tried to use some packing tape to affix to the forehead to keep the antlers in place, but it wouldn't stick and I was worrying about defacing Joe. (Those cardboard cutouts aren't cheap. They're something like $25 with some - or most - of the proceeds going to Penn State's library fund.) So I decided that clothespins would work better!
I had e-mailed Jingle Bell Run race director Melissa Levin on Saturday that if she saw someone with a "StandUp Joe" that it would be me! (She is also doing PR work for the Houston Marathon and arranged the interview of Waverly for the Spring Observer.)
As I made my way from the parking garage with Joe, I got all kinds of interesting looks but mostly a lot of good-heared laughs. I can promise you that many people were talking when they got home or in the office today, "You won't believe what this guy ran with in the Jingle Bell Run ....."
We saw Lisa, Cassie, Sam and Keith before the race as well as Karen Thibodeaux, Mike Mendeck, Vera Balic, Calvin and Joyce Stout and Gary and Denise Van Kuiken.
I really don't think people believed that I was actually going to run with that thing (I know some bloggers sure didn't!) although I kept telling people, "You laugh, but watch Joe come in first in the 75-80 age group!" (This was before I started running.)
As far as Waverly was concerned, I told her her plan was to keep running no matter what and to run the race as fast as she could without stopping to walk (i.e. nice and steady). I also had given her my watch so that she could track her mile splits since I wasn't going to be able to (thinking that I was going to be able to run with her).
The gun went off and we started towards the back. For much of the first mile, I was actually ahead of Waverly and thinking, "This isn't going to be too bad" but I was also worried about any wind. Right before the first mile marker, she passed me and I actually was close enough to tell her to hit her watch (but she didn't see it.)
One woman that was running and walking towards the back asked me who it was and she cackled, "I know who Joe Paterno is. Wait until I tell my husband that I ran a race with Joe Paterno!"
As I got to around mile 2 where Sarah was taking pictures, I had done a lot of walking and running as I had already many times switched the cardboard cutout and football from arm to arm like a running back. Even though the cutout wasn't heavy, the resistance of the headwind going out Allen Parkway made it feel like I was running lifting weights.
Sarah couldn't believe it! She told me that she saw Waverly go by and that she thought she missed me! (No, Dad was still running behind!)
As I made the turn, headed back towards downtown and got to Sarah's spot again, she told me, "You're insane!" I was going to stop for water at the only water stop, but they had run out. I seriously needed some but I was going to ask if they had any for Joe. :) At the same time, I was thinking that since I was at the back of the pack that when I crossed the finish line that I could set Joe down and then spike the football as if I had broke the plane of the goal line.
As I approached the table, I saw a sea of people ahead of me and then I realized that a lot of them were walkers from another start time. I also figured that 1.) there went the safety factor in spiking the football and 2.) I would have to dodge and weave through a lot of them carrying Joe. But, by that time (just before mile 4), I figured out that if I switched the cutout and the ball more frequently that I could keep running. So on I went passing all of these walkers (as I wondered why these folks would pay $20 a person to walk this course - other than to donate to a good cause).
I'm no more than 200 yards from making a last right hand turn onto Louisiana and towards the finish line when this older gentleman begins to run along side of me with a camera. I'm thinking to myself, "This is strange." So the guy gets ahead of me and I just decided to stop and give him the picture that he was looking for before taking off again. (More on that later!)
After I made the turn, I saw Ben Harvie pushing a stroller on the left hand side of the street (he ran the 30K earlier in the day like I had) and he was having a good laugh. Then I saw about five cameras, one of which was Karen Thibodeaux's. So I had the cardboard cutout in my left hand, the Penn State football in my right held high above my head and was going, "We are .... Penn State! We are .... Penn State!" the rest of the way in as I crossed the finish line!
Believe me, I had the attention of many!
One lady walked up to me and wanted her picture taken with me and JoePa. It turned out that she was a Penn State graduate and she knew where Altoona and Tyrone was. Then the gentleman that I saw earlier came up and introduced himself. He was Greg Kelley and ran the website for the Houston Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association! Go figure!
He ended up getting got a few more pictures of me and JoePa.
Then Keith, Cassie and Jessica, who I had seen just beyond mile 1 on the course as she had run in from Memorial Park, came walking up. I still don't think they really believed what they just saw! :)
After awhile, and as Louisiana Street began to clear out, Sarah had made her way back into the area and Karen got a picture of Keith, Cassie, Jessica, Sarah, Lisa, Waverly, myself and JoePa!
A fabulous day - and weekend - for the Houston Running Bloggers!
posted by WalkSports.com | 8:15 PM
7 Comments:
So umm, did JoePa pay the entry fee? Maybe he didn't have to since his feet never touched the ground. LOL
again, a great weekend. thanks for making it memorable! maybe next year you can do the 'keep austin wierd 5k' with me and we can both go nuts with that one too!
(my costume? i won't say yet!)
-jessica
Come to think of it, really they never did!
There were times that I walked but I never stopped and set him down or anything.
Maybe Keith or Sarah can calculate what the wind drag was on a cardboard cutout that size.
As I was running, I thought to myself that what really would have made it something is if I had had a Penn State football helmet!
Waverly ran a great race- after I crossed the line, I headed back out on the course to run in with her. We were moving along at a good clip, then she rounded the corner to the finish and took off on me! I had to sprint to keep up! She was bobbing and weaving through the crowd, hopping curbs and everything. Strong finish for her :)
My coworker Bini is a 2003 Penn State grad and saw the photo on my site -- says to tell you that you're her new hero! :)
I really, really wish I could have been there to see that in person, because I was cracking up just reading about it! That's hilarious! :D
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