2nd Time for Me! What’s 4.25 Miles!

Last Saturday, I joined an estimated 2500 people who chose to register in the 26th Annual Longest Causeway and Fitness Run/Walk. This event brings together the two Chambers of Commerce from Port Isabel and South Padre Island. Participants register through December and early January and the event is held over the first full weekend in January. Last year, the weather was about 75 degrees, sunny and beautiful – this year, it was 38, sunny and cold!

I'm sure you heard there were record low temps in the southern US last week and that included Texas. So, despite the fact a whole bunch of people from the KOA registered and had picked up their t-shirts, by the time Saturday arrived, there were only a handful of us who actually participated. As the temperature dipped into the 20’s at night and only went up to 33 and 38 in the days prior to the walk, many who registered said, “No way!”

Did I say that? Did my buddy Ray say that? No way!

And so we bundled up and away we went. John drove us over the Causeway to the starting point for our 10:15 departure from Port Isabel. The gun for the runners went off at 10:00 and we watched them go by – Texans, Nigerians and Kenyans. The latter were in sleeveless tank tops and those flimsy running shorts! Can you believe it? It’s like they didn’t know it was cold!

There were a few participants dressed in snowsuits and only a few young kids this year. Here’s a pic of Ray and me midway across the Causeway – Ray’s from Missouri so he also knows how to prep for cold weather. It's not pretty but you can see we were enjoying the sunshine:


The route for the runners is 10 km and the results contribute to their eligibility for other races and marathons. The route for the walkers is 3.5 miles and ends at the same place as the runners but Ray and I didn’t head for the official "Finish Line” – no way! We had pre-determined our own “Finish Line”!

You see... after Johnnie had dropped us off at the starting point, he went to our favourite bar located at the end of the pier by the KOA to secure a special “Finish Line”. For me and Ray and the other walkers from the KOA, this added another ¾ mile to our walk but the additional steps were worth it. We gathered there together and celebrated our individual successes! Here's Johnnie greeting me on the completion of my walk:


And this year I didn’t celebrate with a few cold ones – I celebrated with a coffee and a lot of Bailey’s!

All to say, the posted results said the Top Male runner was from Texas (2nd place was from Kenya) and the Top 2 Females were from Kenya. The results also reported the participation of 2 males between 80-99 years of age and 2 women between 70 and 74! These stats give Ray and me encouragement – we should be good to participate for a few years yet!

FYI, we’re going to Mexico tomorrow and looking forward to warmer weather by the end of next week. Catch up with you in about 10 days… m.

Hey! I Made the Local Paper! and the News is Good!

First of all, Happy New Year and welcome to 2010 and this decade... here's hoping we all have good health for the whole of the next 10 years! And here's my intro and start-up for 2010!

If you've been following our blog for awhile now, you may remember me writing about "The Longest Causeway and Wellness Walk". (If you're interested and have the time, the blog entry is dated January 16/09.) Anyway... it's an annual event, 25 years in the making that sees the local Chambers of Commerce for Port Isabel and South Padre Island getting together and sponsoring a 3-mile run/walk across the Causeway.

When I did the walk last year, I joined up with a bunch of great people from here at the KOA. We registered together (my number was #11), walked together and (surprise, surprise) went to celebrate thereafter. But this story stems from the part when we walked together.

Around the centre of the causeway, I remember we passed by a 1/2 ton truck with a photographer perched on top. He was positioned to take photos of the various groups of people participating on the walk. The photos were then posted on the local chamber website and, for about 10 days, you could buy them. I did go on the site and look at the all the photos - there were hundreds of them - but I never did buy any. I essentially forgot about the guy on top of the truck it until this week when the local paper called The Parade was published. A bunch of people said we had to check out page 17 so we grabbed a paper.

And there was this pic promoting the walk for the 2010 event:


Can you believe it? out of hundreds of photos from last year, there I was in the centre of a full-page ad! And so I am now famous - at least famous to those people who recognize me! The gal beside me is Kim (#13) and walking behind us to the left is Mike, Kim's husband (#14), and Caroline (#12) - all of us from the KOA. I had been thinking about not doing the walk this year but there's no way now - I'm in! I go to register tomorrow morning and pick up my T-shirt!

So, stay tuned and I'll be back to you after the 26th Annual Walk!