BARC 6th Annual Pub Crawl Report
I really, really had a great time! The Bay Area Running Club is a fun group of people. I had already known Jay Lee, Sam Rodriguez, Chris Bittinger and Vera Balic. I have gotten to know secretary Veronica Hoge through my initial work with Footprints. Joe Carey and Sarah Graybeal have recently joined (Sarah more recently than Joe) and their president is one of the most talented ultrarunners around in Mark Henderson (and a genuinely good guy). I had seen the pub crawl on the web site before and I had known about it from when two good friends of mine hung out with BARC and did it a couple of years ago.
When I met Veronica at HARRA's Party In The Park a couple of Saturdays ago, I told her that I was thinking about coming down - as long as they had some Mountain Dew (since I don't drink).
When I saw the course map, I was made to feel a bit special! (See if you can tell!)
Most of the places of business were happy to see us on a late Saturday morning and early afternoon. I don't know what the total count of runners were, but I would have guessed between 25 and 35. Here are the mental notes that I compiled:
+ I ran quite a bit with Jay and Wayne Rutledge. Wayne, who's recovering from an injury, will run his 29th Houston Marathon this January.
+ Avi Moss of BCRR was out there with us early and then at the end.
+ I saw Lee Anne Voorhees again, who I met at Party In The Park. (And yes, the Catholic schoolgirls, who grace the Bayou City Classic 10K with their presence every year, were out in force today and their "team" grew by two at the Hilton.)
+ I met Bill Buffum for the first time ever today (as well as Veronica's husband, Tom).
+ I talked to a gentleman who was a member of the Clear Lake Fitness Club and knew Keith Kelleher.
+ A really interesting - and nice - guy was BARC's vice president, Carwyn Sharp (who ran a 2:46 marathon in Austin this past winter).
+ All 6 pub crawls have had rain during them.
+ I found out that the Outpost Tavern is a popular hangout of NASA's astronauts. It was particularly popular, I was told, when a lot of the program's astronauts were the "good 'ol fly boy-types."
+ And, of course, the NASA Hilton is where Clara Harris ran over her husband in the Mercedes.
+ At the Seabrook Beach Club, the end of the run, many headed straight to the outdoor pool to play Water Volleyball!
+ Some parts of the run along NASA Road 1 in the early part bordered on insane! It was truly a multi-terrain course and a couple of places - on to and off of bridges - could have definitely been considered for steeplechase.
They had singlets made up that said, "You can't spell DRUNK without run!" Too funny!
Whether you are a BARCer or not, this is fun for everyone to do! (And I'm sure Clear Lake, Nassau Bay and Seabrook area drivers would not be disappointed with a few morning running Catholic schoolgirl outfits!)
posted by WalkSports.com | 7:24 PM
5 Comments:
Sounds like a great time! I was wondering whether you guys indeed ran down the first part of NASA 1 -- the construction there makes it a pretty hairy proposition! Wish I'd been there. Next time for sure!
Oh, and the Outpost is totally a dive. But it's an *awesome* dive. And it's true about it being an astronaut/NASA hangout.
Jon,
Man, I really wanted to do the Pub Crawl, but I had a good time today too. Lot's of PSU fans in South Bend, we had PSU fans on both sides and in front of us. You'll have a good shot at revenge next year in Happy Valley as we lose a lot of seniors.
Joe,
Penn State travels well. I was telling Avi Moss at the Pub Crawl that if the ND team that played Ga. Tech showed up, PSU would have a chance.
But if the ND that was hyped hit the field, it would be at least a 14-point game.
This is probably good for the Nittany Lions - to slot them down and possibly out of the top 25.
Glad you had a great time. How did you run today?
Jon
ok, i need one of those singlets! LOL!
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