… okay, I’m going to say that when Jo and I ran the Bahamas Marathon on our 25th anniversary that was better.. but other than that… this was the best run this winter!
First of all, the competition this winter has been pretty abysmal. Without a doubt this has been the worst winter for running in the last 25 years or so (unless you are from out West, in which case, my cap’s off to you… I don’t know how anyone does a spring marathon). But I digress…
Today was the Sunday after Super Bowl… which is time for the 4th Annual Pub Run! Another tip of the cap to Scott, for (dis)organizing this year’s run, yet again. Of course, he does it all in stride and actually had no idea this was the 4th year in a row we’ve done this. Thanks Scott! (and he’s not even a swimmer… actually I shouldn’t say that… he’s the first one in the water for the Polar Bear Dip!).
Anyway, this winter sucks. The running has been brutal. Cold, snowy and icy. So what to do? Drink. And even better? Drink and run. So we hit the pubs on one of the worst (or typical) winter runs this year. Cold, snowy and slippery.
So we started at the King’s Arm’s. Jo and I pulled up next to Scott and Cathy in the parking lot. Scott rolled down his window and said I think it might be a small group this year. So there was Scott, Jo and myself. Lambrina and Kirsti said they’d be there too, and they were. We drove past Andy running to the pub, so he was in. Brian rolled in just before take off too. Then Mark and Eileen caught up at our first pub. And a few others (Brett and Cathy) caught up at the end. Nice. Just a nice run on a crappy day. Half cut. Nice.
First stop was a good solid km or so to The Gingerman… then O’Finns Irish Temper… then 200 meters to The Queen’s Arm’s… then 100m to the next pint at the Southside Cottage Grill… and full circle for the 5th and 6th pints back at the King’s Arms.
You know. The funny thing is. When we started the weather sucked… it was cold and slippery. But by the end… I (we) found it wasn’t nearly as cold and my footing didn’t seem nearly as bad. And I had started this day like most days in February this year… -10C with a foot and half of snow… not feeling really very motivated. But oddly… getting together with a bunch of great friends… a little bit of exercise (about 3.69 km according to Lamb’s Garmin… unless you are a keener like Kirsti, who ran 24k yesterday and 21k this morning!)… and, you guessed it, a half a dozen pints of beer… well, I feel a whole lot better.
Now I now it’s not very politically correct to promote drinking and running… and given what a bunch of talented and hard training runners we have in our group it may even seem at odds with each other… but… I could give a crap. This is the real world. Where you do the best you can and try and have a little fun along the way. You might think it’s just the beer talking… or maybe I’ve been listening Jimmy Buffett a bit too much… and you may be right (since I’m writing this under the influence of said beer and a half hour hot tub), but life is pretty good when you have good friends, running (or swimming!) and beer.
PS. No one is looking forward to vanquishing this snow and getting in the Lake more than I am. See you soon. I hope!
Cheers,
Rob
PS. …but the weather still sucks… I have to go shovel the driveway now…