Monday, Oct. 06, 2003
Dear Diary:

I regret that I ran it.

The disco wand of justice protected me from harmIt's not that I regret participating in the Jog for the Jugs, I just regret that I didn't slow down and see more of it.





It was amazing, seeing that many people focussed on such a great cause.

We ran the circuit twice. They closed down the core of Montreal for us, about 8,500 people, people as far as the eye could see. People who came out on a damp, chilly, overcast Sunday morning when it would have been far more pleasant to sleep in.

The people who were running it crowded to the front. Behind us was everyone else. I was so focussed on trying to run as fast as I could that I almost missed the whole point of the experience.

I didn't realize that until I began the second run through the circuit and started to thread my way through the everyone else part of the experience--the families with young kids, the people with their pets, the folks who were taking their time. Slowing down, I started to read each of those "I'm Running For" signs we all wore on our back.

And I started to notice the people in the pink shirts. The survivors. The thing about these people is that some of them were no older than my daughter.

I know the statistics. I know that we're all vulnerable. But those people in the pink shirts, well, that's the whole point of this. To make survival a given, and to one day make it so no one ever has to wear a pink shirt.

It took me just over 32 minutes to run the course because I had to be very careful in the last half not to hurt someone in the sprawling crowd of walkers. Next year, when I do this, I'm not going to focus on speed, I'm going to focus on the experience.

I mean, really, there are lots of places where I can race. This is something else.

This is the reason you do these things.

My three loyal readers, friends, family, neighbours and strangers shaken down in dimly lit alleys donated $3,264.96 to a very good cause. I know that many of you are either unemployed, students or folks who are just getting by, so for a fair number of you a donation involved a sacrifice. Thank you for that.

They give out a fair bit of swag to people who raise this much money, but I'm not eligible for any of it because my daughter works for the bank that organizes and underwrites the cost of the race for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

You can well imagine my bitterness. Each time I mentioned that she should quit her job so I could have the hat, blanket, backpack, watch, and even a crack at a SUV the daughter would roll her eyes and reply with words such as "food, rent, warmth."

Go have children.

--Marn

P.S.--Thanks to Lee R. who was a last minute inductee to the Bazonga Boosters Hall o' Fame.

P.P.S.--I mentioned in another entry that when I was training for the run in Montreal I saw a great bit of graffiti on the corner of deMaisonneuve and Old Orchard:

Mileage on the Marnometer: 448.65 miles (716.6 kilometers)
Ten percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.Half way smoochTen percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.Ten percent there rubber duck.
Goal for 2003: 500 miles - 804.5 kilometers

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This template is a riff on a design by the truly talented Quinn. Because I'm a html 'tard, I got alot of pity coding to modify it from Ms. Kittay, a woman who can make html roll over, beg, and bring her her slippers. The logo goodness comes from the God of Graphics, the Fuhrer of Fonts, the one, the only El Presidente. I smooch you all. The background image is part of a painting called Higher Calling by Carter Goodrich which graced the cover of the Aug. 3, 1998 issue of The New Yorker Magazine.

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