Friday, August 3, 2012

One Skinny Canadian

Moonshine dreamtime
All I need is a goldmine
And true love
Just like sugar in my coffee

Eleni Mandell, Moon Glow Lamp Low, from the album Miracle of Five

I missed the registration deadline for the Twin Cities Marathon so I wrote the race director to inquire if there was room at the start line for one more runner, one more skinny Canadian... with a big heart... 140 pounds soaking wet.

To my delight the answer arrived the next day.

"Dear Mike" read the email from the race director, Catherine, "I just checked and yes indeed we do have just enough room for one more skinny Canadian at the start line." And with that, she provided me with a super secret code to over ride all the red print that declared ... registration is now closed ... we have reached our capacity... try again next year...

Thank you Catherine! You're the best.

So here I am, now training for a full dance on October 7. I had originally considered running Toronto on October 14, but Twin Cities is a preferred race. I ran Twin Cities in 2008 with my niece and it was the best of times. I blogged the experience here.  

My training is going well despite the heat. I ran 7 miles of hills the other day and 18 miles last Sunday. I'm training with an interesting group, some are training for Chicago, others Twin Cities, and others Crazy Horse in South Dakota. For some this will be their first marathon, for others it'll be number 35.  One runner is vegan, I'm vegetarian so we compare notes about nutrition and chit chat. It's all good the chatter, the goodwill, the caring for one another.  No injuries, energy level is up, feeling ok.

Twin Cities Marathon falls on Canada's Thanksgiving weekend so Jennifer and I will make a  little vacation of it. I have already booked the hotel ... 0.8 miles from the start line and about the same from the Walker Art Institute.... something for both of us.

I attended Art City's Van Launch Party last week on the roof top of the WAG. The van was designed by Netherlands' artist and personal friend of Wanda Koop, Olaf Mooij. Olaf also designed the iconic bicycle that sits on top of Art City on west Broadway. I thought you might enjoy some images of the unveiling. 


The excitement mounts...
Edward admires...
What the ... ?

The Art City Van... 1000 AMPs of pure positivity. Note the city scape design of the speaker arrangement.

It's a good day to be alive and running with a thousand amps of pure positivity!

Mike