Team Challenge Vegas 1/2 Marathon Info Meetings....

Come out to an info meeting if you are interested in running the Vegas 1/2 for Team Challenge.....the first one is Wednesday at 7 at the JoCo Public Library in Lenexa at 15345 W 87th Street Pkwy. The second one is Saturday at Saint Luke's South, Conference Room B at 9 a.m......training starts the 29th!

Molly hits 200 miles......

We took Molly for a 1 mile walk this morning that put her at 200 miles of walking for this year.....she was rewarded with some turkey bacon afterwards......

Strawberry White Merlot

Our latest batch of wine is bottled and labeled.....should be ready to drink soon.

A Vegas 1/2 Marathon?????

The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America is starting a new 1/2 marathon program in KC and they chose the Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon as their team event. The event takes place on 12/6 and training starts on 8/29. You can contact me or Rhonda Sciarra (her contact info is below) with any questions. Here is the release from the CCFA Mid-America office...

Go the distance to fight digestive disorders

Spend a winter weekend and complete a half marathon in the glitzy and ritzy Las Vegas, and help find a cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Join the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s Team Challenge teams for winter 2009.

You fundraise to find a cure for these devastating digestive disorders that affect more than 1.5 million people. Team Challenge trains you over four to five months to complete a half marathon, pays for your airfare and hotel to these great destinations, and throws two fabulous parties for you. Consider yourself a couch potato? No problem either; most Team Challenge participants have never completed an event like this before.

Challenge yourself to change your live and the lives of others! Learn more at an upcoming information meeting:
7 p.m., Aug. 19
Johnson County Library – Central Resource Library
9875 West 87th Street
Overland Park, KS 66212

9 a.m, Aug. 22
Conference Room B
Saint Luke’s South Hospital
12300 Metcalf Avenue
Overland Park, Kansas 66213

Reserve your spot today - contact Rhonda Sciarra at 314.863.474, rsciarra@ccfa.org or www.ccteamchallenge.org

Project Update....

The rain chain in action.....

I am now working on my concrete countertops....first L-section is poured.


Curing and stained....just awaiting its epoxy coating....

Rock-n-Roll Seattle Marathon

We ran the RNR-Seattle Marathon last weekend and it is easily the best course of all the Rock-n-Roll series marathons. Beautiful course with views of Mt Rainier, bald eagles, and lots of water to look out over. The only negative was the last 3 miles of the race...they had an out and back in an industrial rail area that was kind of a let down from the rest of the course. It was open and hot and made for a rough ending for a lot of people. I realized after we returned home that I had run the race in retired pair of running shoes......my Brooks Beasts that I wear actually still look very good after they are worn out for running purposes and it is hard to tell sometimes from the pairs that are still good....I grabbed the wrong ones to pack. I was wondering why my legs felt pounded out by mile 11.....so I just pushed it on to the finish. I am lucky I didn't end up injured. This was marathon #77 and state #37....starting to get anxious about getting that state and DC total up to 51. We spent some time hiking the next day at Mt Rainier.....here are some pix from the trip....

West Virginia's Hatfield and McCoy Marathon

This is a wonderful race. It starts in Kentucky and finishes in West Virginia, crossing back and forth between the states several times. We hit the expo where we picked up our race packet, had a nice prerace meal , and saw a presentation on the Hatfield-McCoy feud....each runner was assigned a side...I was a Hatfield and Kim was a McCoy......

The Hatfield

The McCoy

Race morning was not that warm but it was extremely muggy. There had been a lot of flooding in the area over the last few weeks and the air was saturated. I decided before the race that it was going to be a "fartin' around" marathon. We brought a disposable camera and just covered the distance.....

Only one section of the course was muddy and it reminded me a lot of the tank trail in Anchorage.

...lots of "squalor in the hollar" along the course.

...lots of rivers and bridges along the course.

.....a bridge on the course connecting two sides of a golf course, one side in Kentucky and one side in West Virginia.

No caption really needed....


Our medals and overall finisher trophies...notice that mine is for 183rd and Kim's is for 184th....someone started some McCoy trash talking about a 100 yards from the finish line and got smoked.....also notice that we got a fly swatter in the our packet.

Hatfield and McCoy Marathon.....

We head off for West Virginia this weekend for the Hatfield and McCoy Marathon, which if all goes well will be marathon #76 and state #36. This is a marathon I have been eyeing for quite a while. It is a smaller sized field but seems to get great reviews from its runners. You are designated a Hatfield or McCoy....not sure which one I am yet.

Making a copper rain chain......

I decided to replace one of our downspouts with a copper rain chain. After shopping for them, I decided they were much too expensive to buy, so me being me, I decided to make one. I priced several of the style that I ended up making and they ranged from about 13-16 dollars a linear foot. My chain is about 18 feet long so it would have been at least 234 dollars. I ended up spending 50 on copper and I had a soldering iron and solder on hand. I purchased 1/4 inch copper tubing (the same stuff used to run a water line to your ice maker) in 5 packages of 20 feet. I carefully uncoiled it into a straight line....be careful not to make any kinks in the copper. I used a spray paint can to coil the tubing to my desired ring size. I just held one end and rolled the can along the tubing until it is all tightly coiled around the can.


Slide the coil off of the can and cut the coil in to chain lengths. Make sure you make your cuts parallel with each other and it will make soldering easy later. Snip down the length of the whole coil.
Solder the links together. I found it easier to use the soldering iron over a torch and made my chain in an alternating double and single link pattern. Copper is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity......the electrical conductivity hopefully will not be a problem, but its ability to conduct heat certainly will....wear thick gloves! Add links until you reach your desired length. I removed my downspout and pushed the top link up through the hole where the downspout attached to the gutter. I had a one foot piece of 1/2 inch copper pipe (it was scrap and just about anything will work) that I used to anchor the chain. I slid the pipe in the gutter and through the top link of the chain to hang it in place.
I purchased a copper pot used to coil a garden hose. I picked this because it has a hole for the hose to exit the pot. I pointed the hole away from the house and filled it with landscape rock.
Done....it has already started to patina to the traditional green but I am experimenting with some leftover copper to try some different acids to see what color of patina I can get. Now I am just waiting for the next rain to see how it sounds.....

Green Bay Marathon

Marathon #75, State #35....here is a collection of pictures.

Kim and her finisher's medal

My medal and number.....

After packet pick-up and pasta....

The Bay of Green....

Fried cheese curds from Titletown brewery.....mmmmm.

Titletown Brewery....a must....good food and good beer.

Cheese head...available in the Lambeau Gift shop...along with about anything else.

Lambeau Field....the start and finish of the marathon.

Next up......West Virginia.

Green Bay Weekend

This weekend, we will be driving up to run the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon.....finally a new state. I have been running too many races that are repeat states, so it will be nice to be able to cross another one of the list. If all goes well this will be Marathon #75 and state #35......

The Lincoln Marathon

I ran this marathon 10 years ago as my first marathon and it has not changed a bit. The course was the same and it was fun to remember covering it that first time. We partied it up a bit too much the day before, so it was a rough morning....way too much good food and a bit more alcohol than I am used to consuming the day before a race....I was so stuffed I could not sleep and was parched and constantly getting up to drink water.
The race started and we just settled into a nice slow pace. I actually think I felt better the back half of the race than the first half, despite the temps creeping up. We finished at about 5:30 and marathon number 74 is in the books.....
mile 9 or so....