#2/10 Newport Liberty Half Marathon, Jersey City. Sunday, September 27th, 2009

The weekend started with camping Friday Night at Hickory Run State Park about 30 miles west of Stroudsburg. Kodiak wanted to take me before the fall weather got too chilly for his 12 year old bones. Ironically the temp dropped quite a bit, but we still managed to have some hot dogs and smores by the fire.
















Kody's supposed to supervise the marshmallow roasting but he gets distracted.



Saturday morning we headed west to Cherry Valley Vineyards in Saylorsburg, PA, for a wine tasting fundraiser for some friends then headed across the Delaware Water Gap to meet up with Rick in Hoboken.











Rainy Day in Hoboken



Rick's ferocious Guard Dog Harry.



Rick and I grabbed some Mexican at Charritos and then moved on to Maxwells for a drink.




















Despite the fact that I had a half marathon less than 8 hours away, Rick and I watched the Penn State implosion and the Notre Dame comeback at Clinton Social at the corner of 7th and Clinton. The weather in Hoboken matched the rain we saw on TV at the Penn State game, and carried over into Sunday because I woke up to a miserable rainy morning.The run itself was great, it starts on the Newport waterfront in Jersey City and works its way to Liberty State Park where the majority of the miles are, before heading back to Newport. LSP provides winding tree lined paths and great views of New York City, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island.






A rainy view of Lady Liberty from mile 6.





Check out the runners crossing the bridge ahead of me in Liberty State park.



The day cleared up a bit for us, and Rick and I went over to the Lucky 7 Tavern in Jersey City to watch the Eagles. The place serves great wings, and is covered with Pictures and Stickers... one sticker in particular from the Grove Street Bicycle Shop caught my eye. Rick's iPhone told us it was only 3 blocks away, so at halftime we headed over. It's a great little shop with pretty cool looking Green T-Shirts. http://www.grovestreetbicycles.com/

It appeared that the Eagles had things under control, so after Grove Street I made the trip back to Philadelphia to give my report to PRST.

Lucky 7 Tavern. That's not Harry that's someone else.



Grove Street Bicycles.

Looking foward to a busy upcoming weekend involving train rides, a Lancaster half with some hills, a BBQ with Todd's hometown friends, some possible race support duties of my own, and the last home game of the season at the Ballpark....

# 1/10 Philadelphia Distance Run - Sunday Sep 20th, 2009

It was a beautiful day for a race. I had breakfast and stretched with my normal pre-race support team, walked Kodiak as a warm-up, and then walked down to the start. I had celebrated my 31st birthday the day before with a delicious ravioli dinner from Talluto's so I was just about as ready as I could be. I ran this race 10 years ago on my 21st bday and found I added just under 2 minutes per mile to my finishing time for each year that had passed. I wasn't too concerned, however, as this was the first time I logged 13 miles in one day since last fall and got through the race without too much trouble.

It was nice to run into my cousin Kevin at the start, there to support Robin who completed her first half that day. I also received some encouragement from Kacy just before I took off to begin.

The PDR takes a quick tour of Center City before heading out on West River Drive and then Back on Kelly Drive. I got some cheers right before the Finish from Mom and Dad, wearing their matching Phillies shirts as usual... and thanks to Dad for treating us all to a well deserved breakfast at Little Pete's in Fairmount.

Thanks to Todd for coming up with the afternoon solution of enjoying some incredible Sunday weather, and keeping an eye on both the Phillies and Eagles, by suggesting the deck at the Brew Pub in Manayunk.

I now realize I need to take many more pictures during my upcoming runs and the time that follows. Looking forward to visiting Rick in Hoboken.

Philly Distance Run

Ryan Hall: He Beat me.

Philly to Philly - 10 Half Marathons in 10 Weeks

This summer Life threw me an unexpected curveball, and I found myself too far behind in my running to get ready for the Philadelphia Marathon. When I realized I wouldn't be able to get my act together in time to run a full in a respectable finish without potential injury, I decided instead to enjoy the fall season (my favorite time of year) running halfs of all sorts, while visiting, running with, traveling with, and even camping with any friends who would put me up, put up with me, and come along for the ride.

I love a good fall distance run. Below you will find a combination of big city and home town races, each offering a different experience. I look forward to joining all that are running with me and hope that more will come along. Be sure to check back each week to view reports, updates, and pictures from each run.

Philly to Philly - 10 Half Marathons in 10 weeks between the Philadelphia Distance Run and the Philadelphia Marathon and Half.

Philadelphia Distance Run - Philadelphia 9/20
Newport Liberty Half Marathon - Jersey City, NJ 9/27
Hand on House Half Marathon - Lancaster, PA 10/3
Staten Island Half - Staten Island, NY 10/11
Seaside Heights Half - Seaside Heights, NJ 10/18
Hairy Gorilla Half and Squirrelly Six Miler - Vorheesville, NY 10/25
Spirit of Pittsburgh Half Marathon - Pittsburgh, PA 11/01
Harrisburg Marathon Relay - Harrisburg, PA 11/08
Atlantic City Running Festival - 11/15
Philadelphia Marathon and Half - 11/22