Busy, Yet Really Good Saturday ... So Far

It will be a lot better if Penn State wins this evening over Ohio State. Go JoePa!

Actually, I should clarify that this is football since the Nittany Lions' women's volleyball team is No. 1 in the country. The men's volleyball team, who is the 2008 defending NCAA national champion, gets their season underway on January 8, 2009 in Hawaii. (No, I won't be there.)

I was up at 5 a.m., showered (there is one HARRA runner who I can tell you running by them during a warm-up that they don't!) and was on the road by 5:35 a.m. to Lufkin.

I went to participate in the Stay on Track Fun Run 5K that benefitted the Angelina Coalition. They are a non-proift organization that spearheads Angelina County's efforts for the drug-free awareness activities as part of Red Ribbon Week. Donna Quarles Studio & Gallery - Edwin's wife - was a bronze sponsor of the event.

Edwin and I texted much of my drive to Lufkin only for me to get out of him that he had forgotten to pick up his bib number for tomorrow's Houston Half Marathon. So Cassie was going to bail his butt out ... and now he HAS to come to Houston and run tomorrow.

They had a 1-mile for the kids and some adults, followed by the 5K. It was $15 for the 5K and $20 to do both. I wanted to save myself for the 5K so I made $5. :)

In talking with Edwin, he helped the organizers out with making sure the course wasn't a repeat of last year's 3.6-mile adventure as well as positioning volunteers from a county judge's Drug Court offenders along the route that went through the woods behind a lake.

The course was multi-terrain and started behind the city-run Ellen Trout Zoo. (Who knew Lufkin had a zoo? Well, apparently Dana-Sue Crews did. But that isn't completely fair. She's from Nacogdoches.) It was two loops that went around Ellen Trout Lake and into some woods behind the lake. It really was a very different, enjoyable but challenging course. One of the most difficult spots wasn't any one of the number of small inclines, but crossing the rail road tracks for the Z&OO Railroad. [I think Edwin was taking a picture of my first traversing of the rails. I hope he pressed delete.]

I finished the 5K in 29:31.48. I think the course turned out to be a little short. Edwin thinks that the RD didn't have the finish line back farther than what was set up for the 1-mile event. He suggests that it might have caused about a 30-second difference.

I really hadn't tried to push myself recently so it was good to try and do so, especially in the cooler weather.

After we crossed the little bridge and jumped over and through a pair of railroad tracks, we pushed towards the finish line. The guy who probably won it (he looked a little like Sean Wade) told his wife - who was behind me - that there was about 200 meters to go. I heard her (or thought I did) behind me so I decided to go as hard as I could. I held her off and never saw her come up in my peripheral view. (I told him thanks afterwards!)

I got a couple of bananas and had some water, walked back to my truck and then headed out to Kit McConnico Park. This is where the Quarles family was as Ashton and Jenna were playing soccer on two different fields - at the same time! So Donna watched Ashton the first half of her game and then went to see Jenna play in the second half - and vice versa.

And as fate would have it, neither parent saw both of their kids score goals. Jenna or "Lulu", with Edwin watching, scored two goals, while Ashton scored a goal in front of Donna. Jenna, who's six years old, is a pretty talented soccer player and did an incredible job of controlling the ball down the field a number of times. Wow! Edwin told me that she's been invited to participate on a tournament team next weekend and had practice this week.

Good stuff for both daughters on the last game of their regular season! I had fun watching them play. The best line from Jenna, "Here Dad, hold my trophy!" :)

It was really good visiting with Edwin today. It was worth the trip.

It just goes to show how blessed I am to have the friends that I have. I'm very thankful for everyone that I can call a friend.

I left the Park at about 10:45 a.m., called and talked to Bill Dwyer for a little bit and I was soon back on the Highway 59 South, listening to Texas Tech start to beat up on Kansas on the radio. I stopped to get a bite to eat in Cleveland with my destination being another park -- Carl Barton, Jr. Park in Conroe.

I would meet at 1 p.m. with the race committee for the Bill Crews Remission Run 5K, slated to be on Saturday, January 31, 2009. This is a date that you want to put on your calendar now and make plans to have fun! That is what this event is going to be all about: fun!

It will include running on the bike trails that were developed by GHORBA and the Texas Trail Doctors, part of the Texas Department of Parks & Wildlife.

I met with Frank Rizzo and the entire Crews family. We walked the blue and the yellow trails that seemed to be more than the 3 miles for all three (3) of the trails combined. We have three (3) months and a week to make this happen very successfully; however, we have a large group of committed volunteers that included Bill, Jill Mills, Rick Ames, Lisa Henthorn, Jim Braden, George Roffe, Sandra Sutherland and myself.

It is going to be a "hash-like" and very fun 5K. There'll be a band and lots of games for the kids - as well as a shorter run for them. A little something for everyone in the crowd. Please mark the date on your calendar and plan to participate.

I'm starting to crash a bit. Busy, busy day tomorrow. I'll see a lot of you at the Houston Half Marathon and no, I'm not running it!