Happy Birthday Fred MacMurray - 110 years old in heaven today!

Today is Fred MacMurray's 100th birthday, which he celebrates in heaven.  He was born on August 30, 1908 - and before acting, made his way in the world as sax player!

With the exception of "Double Indemnity," my favorite MacMurray films are his comedies from the 1930s and 1940s.  My least favorite MacMurray film is "The Apartment" - tough to like the guy when he plays a creep. 

Here is a nice obituary from "People" magazine (which covers a good chunk of his years on "My Three Sons").

Hopefully I'll get to watch a MacMurray film tonight :D

Happy Birthday Fred!

Shays Rebellion kicked off 232 years ago today - August 29, 1786

It was 232 years ago today - barely 10 years after the revolutionary war began in 1776 - that the first major rebellion (revolution) shook colonial America.  On August 29, 1786, protesters shut down the court house in Northampton, Massachusetts, and prevented it from conducting its normal business. 

Shays' Rebellion, as it would come to called, set in motion a number of things - not least of which the Constitutional Convention that would do away with the Articles of Confederation and replace them with the Constitution that we have today.

Why am I posting about Shays' Rebellion, apart for the arbitrary anniversary date (232)?  Because next week kicks off the Fall semester and one of the classes I'm teaching is -- Constitutional Law!  While we don't spend too much time covering it, Shays' Rebellion is on the syllabus for the first class meeting :D

2018 Sri Chinmoy (formerly Self-Transcendence) Marathon

This morning I ran my 4th Sri Chinmony Marathon - which is held during the week instead of the weekend!  It's a great location, at Rockland Lake.  The course is 9 loops around the lake (with the last loop shorter than the first 8).

It didn't start off auspicious because as I drove over the Tappan Zee Bridge, it began to drizzle.  That drizzle grew into full blown rain by the time I reached the parking lot.  But amazingly, just like that it ended.  Except for some puddles on the course (and marshy patches of grass at the staging area), it hardly left an impact.


As for the my race, I ran the first 20 miles at an 8:50 pace, and struggled a bit over the last 10k.  I slowed down enough over the last to loops to miss a sub 4 by just over a minute (4:01:53).  But it was still a good day!  This finish was about 5 minutes slower than my 2017 result.


here are the official results from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

Happy National Radio Day - 2018!

Happy National Radio Day!


From the National Radio Day page:


National Radio Day is a time for communities across the country to celebrate radio. The goal is to strengthen the radio ecosystem, highlighting all kinds of radio, but especially stations that focus on local service. We want to ensure that amazing noncommercial stations are included in the national conversation.

Given that physical radios - as well as old school over the air broadcasts - are starting to fade away (the scary trend in Europe is to abolish the FM service) it's all the more important to support your local radio station!

Celebrate by tuning in today :D

2018 B.U.S. Smart Ass Trail Mix Up "Adventure Run"

On the drive to Forest Park we actually had on again/off again drizzle - not an auspicious start to a race primarily on trails!  But, luckily, it had stopped when we arrived (minutes before the start)!  This race was held in Alley Pond Park last year (in December, actually), so we didn't know what to expect with the terrain/layout.  Needless to add, it turned out to be a beautiful - but challenging (as in hilly) course.  Less than a mile of it was on park roads, the balance of the 5k loop was on trails.

The course was well marked - which does little to explain how I went off course during the first loop!  Not a big deal, 5 minutes, maybe 3/10ths of a mile overall - but definitely not - to repeat myself - an auspicious start to a trail run!  The 50k was 10 loops.  That was my original plan.  But I dropped down to the 30k (6 loops) because I'm registered for the Sri Chimnoy Marathon this Thursday, at Rockland Lake.

That was a smart move because it took me roughly 3:37 to finish the 30K.  That was a solid half hour slower than my 50k split at the Alley Pond version of this race last year (I did 50k there)!  The hills and humidity took a toll. Still it was a great day - and Richie, our fearless leader, can chalk up yet another fantastic BUS event!

Here are the 30k results (as well as 50k finishes) from NY Ultrarunning!

2018 Westport Summer Series 8.4M: Race Photos & Results

It was a soggy morning to run a race, much less run a hilly one!  The Westport Summer Series 8.4 Miler is one of my favorite courses.  It's a challenging course (roller coaster like may be an apt description).  But toss in 98% humidity at the start and it becomes more of a survival challenge - ha!

As for the race itself, I went out too fast - realizing by mile 3 that holding an 8 minute pace was wishful thinking!  My 1:10:38 (unofficial), 8:16 pace, was actually about 30 seconds slower than my 2017 finish!  There were a few stray drops of rain during miles 7 and 8.  Having felt like we were running under water most of the course, it was hardly noticeable!

Here are the race results from Westport Road Runners.

2018 NYRR NYC Marathon 15 Mile Training Run

When I signed up for the 15 mile training run earlier this week it seemed like a good idea!  Aside from the little detail that I thought the run was on Saturday (instead of Sunday)... small detail indeed!  Well now that the forecasted rain soaked weekend is upon us, doing 3 five mile loops of Central Park on a rainy (maybe thundering) Sunday morning is decidedly unattractive :(

On the positive side, we did get a cool (lime green) hat - a good thing to have on if it's raining - ha!

More importantly, however, rain or otherwise, I'd be out there running a long run Sunday morning, so weather is basically a push :O

2018 Taconic RR Predicted Time Race at FDR Park

Last night, for second Wednesday in a row, was in FDR Park for a race!  This one was our club's predicted time 2.5 miler - no technology of any kind allowed.  It was basically the same course we ran last week for the Masters Challenge 5K, but it excluded the loop around the lower parking lot.  Just like last week it was hot and humid :O


I'm not sure what possessed me to "predict" 18 minutes when I signed up for this one last week - a momentary lapse of thought?  My 19:59 finish was a solid 2 minutes off my prediction!  No matter, it was a good time.  And afterwards came the food and drink!


I took a photo of the official results (below), but will add a link when they've been posted on the website. 


Next Taconic race is the Peekskill Brewery Mile on the 19th - don't miss that one :D

2018 Masters Challenge 5K at FDR State Park

Last night was the annual Masters Challenge 5K.  Since it was Taconics year to host the event, we ran it at FDR State Park (next year it's Westchester Track Club's year, so we'll probably run it over at Rockies).  The weather (or should I just say HUMIDITY) was stifling!  It was equal to, or worse than, what we ran in Saturday morning at the NYRR Team Championships.

Be that as it may, it wasn't so much about the race (even though we had 40+ finishers) - as it was about the post-race socializing (with plenty of food and (adult) beverages)!

As for my performance, despite some still aching quads from Escarpment, I chugged out a 23:46, 7:39 pace!  Not sure if I scored for the Taconic team, but the we did win (by just one point) the Men's 50 division :D

I'll add a link to the results once they've been posted.

August 2018 Race Schedule

August kicks off tonight with a trip to FDR Park for the annual Masters Challenge 5K (a great reason (excuse) for a bunch of masters runners to socialize, eat, and drink (maybe) adult beverages while the young(er) runners are elsewhere :D). This events alternates locations depending on the club that hosts it for the given year.  Taconic hosts it this year, hence the FDR Park location.

This weekend will be my first Norwalk Summer Series Race of the season - the 9 Miler.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to run the earlier races (but hopefully will make the 11 Miler later this month).  I will definitely be there for the Norwalk Half in September!

Also this weekend is Bob Tona's Annual Bridges Run.  It's a RVRR event, but I'm glad it's open to non-team members.  It'll be my 3rd year participating - and confronting my (unnatural) fear of bridges and heights!

Midweek will be a return to FDR Park for the Predicted Time Run.  This is another Taconic event, and it coincides with our monthly club meeting.  That means good chance of food and adult beverages after the race :D  That weekend is a return to Westport for the 6.85 Miler on Saturday.

The following Saturday is also another Westport Race (the 8.4 Miler) - followed by an afternoon road trip up to Peekskill for the Taconic Brewery Mile.  Like last year, Katie and Jimmy will participate.  The next day is a trip down to Queens for the B.U.S. Trail Mix-Up 50K.

That 50Kwill be a training run for me, as will the Self-Transcendence Marathon 4 days later (on its traditional Thursday), for the Pine Creek 100 Miler next month.  More on that one at a later date.  Suffice to say here that it's my effort at some redemption following last month's poor performance in Vermont :O

Last but not least for August is a dilemma.  The Percy Sutton 5K is a team race, but I won't be in any position to race it coming off the high mileage of the prior week.  Instead, I'd get better a better training run by doing the Norwalk Summer Series 11 Miler.  At this point I'm inclined to do the 11 Miler - unless my team needs one extra body for the 5K (regardless of speed/or lack thereof).

Here's how it looks so far:

8/1 - Master's Challenge 5K
8/4 - Norwalk 9 Miler
8/5 - Bridges Run
8/8 - Predicted Time Run
8/11 - Westport 6.85  Miler
8/18 - Westport 8.4 Miler
8/18 - Peekskill Brewery Mile
8/19 - BUS Trail Mix-Up 50K
8/23 - Self-Transcendence Marathon
8/25 - Norwalk 11 Miler

As always, if you're at any of these great events - say hello!  Oh, and I hope to get to a couple of Waveney and/or VCTC summer series race as well :D