MLK weekend

Thanks to Dr Martin Luther King's dream, many opportunities became reality. Like Dr Martin Luther King, president Obama is working diligently toward change. I want to reiterate what I said last year: The doc did so to defend & protect the rights of ALL people, rather than just the white male racist ones. He not only fought for 'our' people, African-Americans as a whole, but for all females, regardless of color & non-white men, such as Asians & Hispanics, as well. It's amazing how the country was founded saying that 'all men are created equal' but yet not treated equally.Although 'we' were free from actual slavery, we were still enslaved by a racist system. We were being punished just because of the color of our skin & our presence here in the U.S., even though in the past, we were forced to be here. Dr King, through methods similar to my primary hero, Jesus Christ, induced change to bring us closer to normalcy. Although I believe we will never attain a perfect society, it is possible to get a high percentage. Because of his efforts, Obama was able to achieve the impossible-a black man employed at the highest position in the nation-president. Last year, on the tonight show with Jay Leno, his favorite guest, Wanda Sykes said that George W Bush was the best thing that ever happened. Like Jay, I wondered why she said that. She followed up by essentially saying that if he hadn't screwed up so bad, no black man would have been considered. Now president Obama has a tall order. He has to try to dig us out of a deep & dirty ditch. I pray he can do this. We need to change from our dismal state to one of prosperity. We as a nation have already begun to heal the damage to our reputation worldwide. We need more focus on our domestic woes & less on others; godspeed.

Speaking of dreams, this was a dream weekend for an athlete like me, beginning with a double header tune-up. I was in 3 different counties for at least a half hour!

Saturday agenda 1-5k

In Miramar, there was both a 10k & a 5k. In light of what I have done & yet to do, I chose the latter. Despite cool weather, I had a dismal time. In spite of that, I still won the master title, but unlike last year, my tune up racing was not complete.

Saturday agenda 2-5k

I had to commute from the west side of south broward to the east side of Boca within an hour & still pick up my packet at the next event. This is usually the challenge, not the events themselves, except this time. The coach Roudy 5k turned out to be more like 5 miles, as whomever measured it did a horrible job. On top of that, the course was not marked, therefore Mike & I went off course, adding more distance, that last thing I wanted to do. The longer distance is more advantageous for him, particularly since he was fresh, in addition to that it's his specialty. We both lost positions but by the grace of God, we regained all but 1 slot. This caused me to fall to 3rd overall & he took the master title with 4th. To add insult to injury, the staff left all the medals unattended, so some kids looking for a finishers medal, swiped both of our awards and now we have to wait for them to be mailed. There were no mile markers or clocks, a water station with an inept girl talking on the cell rather than distributing the fluids.

Sunday agenda-Naples half

In keeping with my tradition, I went over to Naples. This was the main event for running this weekend. I forfeited my chance to place in lieu of an endurance event. Overnight, it rained like cats & dogs. In the morning, the ground was wet & the sky was cloudy. However, the external conditions were great, as it remained cool (not cold) throughout the run. I was able to meet my average standard but failed to meet or beat the best time I set for this course.

Monday agenda-MLK 5k

Also a tradition, this event falls on the observed holiday. Due to the strength of my schedule, I chose to racewalk. By the grace of God, I recovered well enough to win the event once again, despite a dismal time. It was great to see many of many Niketown running mates, both the old school (Fred (2 ag), Berta, Ronnie (winner), Leo(3 ag), John D(2 ag), Courtney(1 ag)) and the new (Jonathan(2nd oa), the Rubio family(Humberto=1 ag & wife wins overall female racewalk)); we outnumbered them! Runners depot teammates Jon W & Louis M takes their age divisions.

Honorable mention

* George wins age group in 2 races
* Mike K wins in my age group
* Silvia completes #27 & wins age group
* Runner's depot (representation in all events I went to).