Winnings

This morning there was a race for a local dog charity. Boy, do I love these! I mean, I am a huge fan of running races to begin with. Throw Shea in there as my running partner and it is essentially a small slice of heaven.

As the race was about to begin, we were told the priest who was supposed to send off the dogs with a blessing was MIA. Apparently, the inclement weather (60 degrees and raining) was a deterrent. I'm not sure if only Father Benjamin knew where the starting line was supposed to be, because the lady with the megaphone was somewhat unsure. She simply pointed to a place and said, "this should be good." This was how I knew Shea and I were running in an extremely well planned out race. The lady proceeded to blow in a whistle and shout out, "runner ready, GO!" I'm no rocket scientist, but I would have started off the race by saying, "ready, set," then blowing that handy-dandy whistle that was hanging around her neck.

The race is separated into two categories: humans, and the human/dog combo. Shea and I were just a little behind two other ladies with their dogs. The only competition we had to worry about. I was plotting my attack plan. I was going to stay a few strides back, like I was, and then take the lead in the last half-mile or so. I knew I could do it. I was thinking of how wonderful it would be to tell Jeff that Shea and I won the race.

The snag came about a half mile into the race. The problem is that this poorly planned race had nobody directing the runners where to go. Not even signs. So, we all ran down where we thought was the right path, only to come to the conclusion that it was not. Now, caught up with the other two women, we decided we needed to turn around. Luckily the two other women were graduates of the college the race was at. While they weren't sure of the course the unorganized race was supposed to go on, they did know a 3.1 mile route around the campus. So, we decided to that that route would be acceptable. As we ran, I saw my opportunity to pull ahead. Shea had a good stride going and my legs were feeling strong. As we pulled ahead, we came to multiple corners. The problem was, I had no idea where to go. The woman behind me kept shouting ahead telling me where to go as I took wrong turns. After feeling like a ping-pong ball, I decided that I would just run with the other ladies. As we closed in on the finish line, one dog stopped to poop, leaving Shea and I alone with the other woman. I know this is hard to believe, as I am very competitive, but I do have a heart. I decided it would be extremely cold hearted to sprint ahead of this woman who directed me the entire race and take away the first prize. So, we decided to finish together.

At the finish line, the unorganization continued as we crossed what we were not sure was the finish line. Some guy standing at the "finish line" was holding a notebook and simply wrote down our bib numbers. When we went over afterward to see what our time was, about two minutes after we finished the race, the man looked at his watch right then and there and wrote that time down. Oh well, all that matters was we got our prize baskets! See that one on the left, with the doggy treats in it? That was Shea's race winning basket!

The one on the right was what I won in the raffle. The wine bottles in the front, look closely, I also won in the raffle. Yes, it was a good day my friends. Shea was the big winner. On top of his prizes, I gave a big hug, which I'm sure he would say was his greatest prize of all!

He looks enthused doesn't he? My only regret, not playing the lottery today. I feel as though I could have won Jeff and I a few million dollars. Then we would live in neither in Albany or Cleveland.