Happy independence day!

July 4th is the milestone in American history. Although it seems sometimes that we mimic many of the ways of the British (taxation), at least we are free from their rule & control our destiny. We are not ruled by a king or queen selected from a certain privileged family but get to vote for someone to be president who is not limited to certain bloodlines. While most will enjoy fireworks, only the dedicated athlete got up early to race or train.

Thanks to our freedom, lots of events are scheduled on this special day. Unfortunately, I can't do them all, so I have to use a process of elimination. I passed on my favorite race, the Weston 5k, for what I call the inDUpendence regional championship.

Today's agenda-Multirace duathlon

This one was designated by USAT as the duathlon regional championship that will allow overall & top age groupers to qualify for the world regional championship. Premier running had good representation today. Diane C always shows up & wins;she took the master title. David K raced well & was deemed 2nd in his age group. However, the greatest surprise was Adrienne, co-owner of the store & Boston qualified runner, agreed to be on 'my' team & she was the start leg of the relay team-Du Tri Harder. She was the fastest & first female in, despite nearly going the wrong way upon return to transition. The cyclist, Alex, was recommended by my friend Mike, and performed well, even though the bike derailed;he had the where with all to re-rail it while still mounted. Unheard of but smart! Although I was 10 seconds slower this year, I am still happy with time; it was an average of 5:38. Our team was the only one to break an hour, and also never were behind. Yes, we took the top title.

Trivia #1, which of the following were not available for consumption?

a. water
b. Accellerade
c. bagels
d. fig newtons
e. oranges

Trivia #2, which of the following were not a condition of today's event?

a. hot
b. humid
c. wet
d. windy

Trivia #3, which of the following surprises did not occur?

a. Andres (Mack cycle) was 2nd overall
b. Elliott Mason came from behind to win
c. I passed the overall female on the anchor run
d. Rob Childers did the whole duathlon

The only 4th I am happy about is July! Hope everyone is or has enjoyed. As far as the last trivia, this is hump day. You now have a clue, so if you are Sherlock Holmes, this may help you. Otherwise, gotta wait till the weekend for that answer.

If you didn't race, I hope you trained. For many, this is required to get past me. Ha ha ha! Ya'll have a happy holiday & remember to give props to the troops fighting & dying to preserve our freedom.

Answers for today's trivia:

d,c,a. Considering last year, I was shocked about #1.