Runners Getting Bad Rap

You know what? I can appreciate all the Public Service Announcements trying to show the masses that bad people don't have to look bad (like the ice cream men). It's something that a father of a soon to be nine year old has to stress. That being said, in two recent commercials on television - women who live alone and people who recycle paper better watch out for us road runners. Check out the nice pic I dug up from the 2006 Philadelphia Half Marathon. That's Still A Dad and myself around mile five I believe. As I run in my neighborhood through the week training for the '08 Half - I wonder if people's brains go right to that commercial when they see me coming. The one commercial is for a security system. As a husband leaves his house with the wife on the porch watching him go (yeah, like that happens. That's the first sign that the commercial is full of shit) a male runner is coming down the street. She looks worried and closes the door. He kneels down to tie his shoe and survey the landscape. She sets the alarm and herds the kids upstairs. Lady, you didn't see Michael Myers outside with a knife - you saw a guy running. Anyway....dude figures his chances are good and he shoulders through the door only to be frightened off by the alarm. Sigh. In the second spot, another runner is coming down the road when a person is taking out their recycle bin. He slows down, again pauses to tie his shoe (a good indication he is a fake runner) and then quickly goes through the bin finding exactly what he was looking for. That runner going down the street holding onto a bank statement won't look out of place at all. A guy running in a hoodie? I don't even like to put a key in my mini pocket. How could one run with a folded up document? Why couldn't it be someone posing as a cable guy or a meter reader? Make people suspicious of individuals who are actually trying to better themselves. The next time I'm running the hood instead of the park and a woman spends more than two seconds eyeballing me cautiously, I'm going to quicken my pace and run straight at her with my arms flailing above my head while screaming "Blalalalalalalalalalala". Well, ok, that's a bit extreme.....maybe I'll just stare back, slow down......and bend over to tie my shoe.....

Can't Win For Losing

You know, last year Still A Dad and I ran in the Philly half marathon in September and we both trained in the early mornings leading up to it. On race day it was sunny, not a cloud in the sky and hot and humid as all get out. We did nothing but complain about the weather and blamed our times on it. This year I thought I would outsmart mother nature. I bypassed the half in September to run in the half portion of the Philadelphia Marathon. They have a full, half and 8k all on the same day. I'm currently in a hotel room praying it doesn't rain, but it doesn't look good. It's frickin' freezing outside and there is a 70% chance of rain tomorrow. It looks light on the radar, but nonetheless, light rain and high 30's is going to be pretty miserable. I was hoping for overcast and 45! Oh well. I guess a little rain never hurt anyone.

A RoadRunners Worst Nightmare

Maybe we should stick to trails and tracks?