accelerate your life 5k photos, part ll

amy and emmy


candid moment: "getting ready for the group photo"


amy and john.

accelerate your life 5k photos and results

me, emmy, and john


me, kate, bob, emmy, and john


gail


kate

official results at clubct.

rr: accelerate your life 5k

this morning i drove to rowayton, connecticut, for the "accelerate your life" 5k. the race was a fundraiser to benefit the brien mcmahon high school junior navy rotc - a very worthy cause! it was a lot of fun because i ran the entire course with my good friend john. but, the best part was that john took second in his age group (m60-69). i somehow managed one better, and finished a strong second in the F40-49 age group!! truth is certainly stranger than fiction - haha! the best part, however, was that when i cleared up the mistake with jim, the race director, kate took over my 2nd place position and dawn moved into 3rd place (and gail was, and had been, in first place) - woo hoo!

but i've gotten ahead of myself. this race was, for me, essentially a recovery run, and i had no plan to run it hard. the course was a beautiful tour of the norwalk seacoast, with some amazing vistas along the beach. in a change of routine, i picked up emmy on the way to the race. emmy also was doing today's race as a recovery run. we both expected to see some friends there. we knew john and kate were already registered. and dawn said she would be there. plus, amy, matt, and gail were also at the race. in fact, amy, as it turned out, won the women's race!

the course was a very familiar amalgam of bits from the boston build-up 10k and the norwalk summer series 7 miler, run in what seemed the reverse direction. there were a couple of notable short, steep uphills, but the course was otherwise fairly flat. john and i kept each other company for the entire race. we each finished in just under 26 minutes.

after the race, i went to my car to get my camera. i ran into dawn was heading home and then to church. i'd be right behind her because i had to get home for my daughter's dance recital. but i did want to take a few pictures and do some socializing. someone mentioned that i was 2nd in my age group - which i thought was unlikely because my of result, a 25:56, an 8:21 pace. when i checked the results i found that i had been misclassified - female instead of male. while flattering, it wasn't exactly accurate ;)

next up, the aha wall street 5k!

healthy kidney 10k photos and results

emmy, sue, me and a few bagels!


taconic men's 60 team!


ruth, and her race baggage!


art, pre-race


post-race, after the results were posted!

here is my race report.

official results at nyrr.

rr: healthy kidney 10k

pre-race view from across the field.
__________________________________

after the below average chill, and rain, that we had yesterday, the dry conditions this morning were very welcome. i'd been in the park thurday night for the boy scout 5k (along with sal and emmy). i never did find sal this morning - either an indication of how large the field was today, or how poor my eyesight is. but i was surprised (if not shocked) when emmy found me! she'd told me on thursday night that she wouldn't run the 10k (but would run a local 5k sunday)!

before i ran into emmy, i met up with art, just outside the baggage check. he was part of the taconic m60-69 team. just after emmy found me, we ran into sue, who ran for "moving comfort." emmy had changed her mind about the 10k because it was a club points race and she was part of the taconic masters team. we would all meet up again after the race.

at the 2007 healthy kidney 10k, (having also done the boy scout 5k) i ran the course in 45:30, a 7:20 pace. this morning i would be happy to finish in under 50 minutes. here are my splits:

1. 7:32
2. 7:01 14:32
3. 7:30 22:02
5k 1:08 23:10
4. 6:57 30:07
5. 7:30 37:37
6. 7:44 45:21
10k 1:32 46:54

7:33 pace

after the race, i found emmy and sue (both of whom had finished well ahead of me). we said hi to tom, bob, art and the rest of the taconic masters team. then emmy and sue went out for a short cool down run, which i decided to skip. i ran into ruth, a fellow b.u.s. member, and watched the awards ceremony. then, when they got back, i hitched a ride back home with emmy. all in all, a great morning!


mary wittenberg and the race winners.

here are a few more race photos.

ny times had some coverage of the race in sunday's paper.

"roman de gare" movie review

last night pat and i went to see "roman de gare," (criss-cross) a french thriller that debuted at the cannes film festival last year. a french film and subtitles? not the way i'd normally spend a rainy friday night before a 10k race the next morning. but since it was our 16th wedding anniversary, and since it was a "thriller" (not your typical "art house" fare) - i was up for it. and, this film was well worth going to see - spellbinding!

for someone like me, who goes to a movie sparingly, each trip has to count. in fact, this was the first non-running movie i've seen this year ("spirit of the marathon," "run fat boy run," and "run for your life: the fred lebow story" - each well worth seeing!) - yikes! the plot dealt with whether an author, judith, had a ghost writer produce her best-sellers, and whether that possible ghost writer, pierre, was, or was not, a serial killer!

the bulk of the movie covers the accidental relationship that develops between pierre and huguette - the suspected serial killer and the self-described "air-head." huguette's fiance, in a remarkable moment, abandoned her at a roadside service station after they had spent hours arguing during the car trip from paris. that's how huguette's life story intersects (dare i say, criss-crossed) with pierre's. he, himself, may be a serial killer on the run from his family, students and dreary life - or the secretary (and possible ghost-writer) for the best-selling author, judith. there are plenty of twists, turns and subplots to grapple with during the film.

pierre, somewhat surprisingly agrees to impersonate the now-absent fiance so she can arrive at her parent's farmhouse and maintain the illusion of happy engagement. this 24 hour period is the most atmospheric and powerful screen time of the film. the trout fishing trip that pierre makes with huguette's teenage daughter (who lives with the grandparents on the farm) starts off with the foreboding bleats of goats and sheep, that escalate into bone-chilling screams. will he kill the girl - and confirm to the audience he is the serial killer?

i won't give away what pierre is up to, or what ultimately happens to him. however, the film, at times, goes over the top in setting out various possible explanations for the events we witness and thens seeks to make them seem plausible - even if a certain degree of disbelief needs to be suspended. but, an added bonus is how the film manages to cram in opulent - if totally unnecessary - side trips (such as grand vineyards, huge yachts and vintage sports cars), all juxtaposed against the rustic, pastoral landscapes!

last, on the purely pyschological levet, one telling scene reveals a great deal about huegette - her sudden use of a shotgun at her parent's farmhouse. that initially shocking outburst presages the character trait she displays at the end of the film - and it is certainly not that of an airhead.

this is a film well worth going to see!

boy scouts of america 5k photos and results

sal and me, pre-race


me and emmy, post-race


sal, emmy and me, post-race


chris and bea, at mickey mantles


me, chris, bea, and emmy, at mickey mantles

official race results at compuscore.