River 2 River Runners

Kid you ran a good first leg. I saw you come off that hill in first place good job. Why was your coach pacing all your women. Was that legal or what? You guys had a good team, you beat us straight up. Hope to race against you next year. Will you be on the team. Who was the fat man you had running the 6th leg up that hill. You guys sure drink a lot of beer after a race.

maybe final.

It was Friday, the 16th of April when I took off for Bloomington on my way to my 6th River to River Relay.

I went to the bank, made sure I had enough money in the Visa account and made my way up to Homefinders in Bloomington on 17th street as I have done over the past 4 years.

In my long running career, I have always been too early at arriving at places. Today was no different. I arrived at 10:30a.m. and nobody was there. The place was locked up.

I stood there at my car, and melencholy set in. I'm gettin old.

The wind was making my hat bob up and down and then I decided to go to Buffalooies to eat, mostly just to pass the time.

I got there and ordered some chicken planks and a coke and sat down by myself and felt like I was in the movie "Barfly".

Suddenly over the radio or intercom there came Frank Sinatra's version of "Our love is here to stay"

It is an Incredible song. The lyrics some of the best that I have ever heard.

Over the years, this is the only song that moves me literally to blubbering tears. particularly when it comes to this line:

In time the Rockies may crumble

Gibraltar may tumble

They´re only made of clay

But our love is here to stay

At first I just tap the tune out on the table with my straw, then I start to really miss my wife and right then and there I make an oath to myself that I will never ignore my wife again when she is trying to talk to me as I watch TV.

I went back and Dr. Ruff suddenly pulls in. At last, company. He only stays a minute and waits around until my teammate Tim Ryder shows up..then Bill shows up with our huge new team van!!! Things pick up, I begin to feel better.

When Jason Feagan arrives we climb on board and head out to Marion Illinois..Along the way we discuss the things we have always talked about as teammates on the way to our race. Tim, knows TV like the back of his hand. He even knows all about Dr. Who. Later, Jeff Tincher would sit and listen for a half an hour in the darkness of the van about this from Tim and actually act like he was interested..that's how nice of a guy he is.

We got to Marion and got our rooms, then went to our favorite steak house where we all had our traditional steaks and then Bill went to the coaches meeting.

At around 8:30p.m., our most valuable runner, the number 1 Amy Bork arrives....I begin to get psyched. Then Terry and Jeff show up from playing pool and drinking some beer in downtown Marion.

All of us in the room EXCEPT...The Canary Brothers. Will they show up? What'll we do if they don't?

Don't worry I said, I'll double up if I have to.

We go to bed, suddenly 4:00a.m. arrives. The nerves aren't there anymore..I'm ready to go. Suddenly someone pops their head in the door and says hello!! It's the Canary Brothers..Silas and Ben.

They had played poker back home at Bloomington until 10 o'clock that night, then drove all the way to Illinois to meet there teammates!! They had arrived at 3:30a.m.

When I went outside to put my stuff in the car, I saw Silas up on the second floor landing,talking on a cell phone, he was saying "I left 149 dollars on that table with you and if you don't give it to me when I come back, I'm gonna kick your ass"!!! "You weren't supposed to use my money to bet with"!! Pretty funny. But he's fun to be around which is worth a whole thread of it's own.

During the rest of the day, the Canary brothers would be asleep in the middle seat of the van until it was their turn to run. They missed everything except their leg of the relay-ha!!! But, boy did they come through!!!!!!

We let Amy out at the start, the sun was just coming up...and the relay for which we all wait so long for had begun

Amy fly's down from the mountain and hands off to Terry, Terry flies through the beautiful second leg to hand off to Jason. Jason took a "sharpee" pen and had scrawled an advertisement to his 200 mile relay on his bare chest front and back!! It looked great!! (pictures can be seen at www,runindiana.com)

Jason then handed off to professor Jeff Tincher, who handed off to the brains of the computer department at IU Tim Ryder, who handed off to Me. I handed off to Ben Canary, who stayed awake long enough to muscle through his leg and did great!!!!!!! To our anchor man Silas!!!!!!! Silas with his old Bloomington North shorts on and a t-shirt which read "Purdue Mom" with the tag still on it, blistered the anchor leg in a time reminicent of his 1999 4th place state finalist finish in the state cross country championship.

It was thus that we rolled along the undulating southern Illinois countryside for the next 9 hours and 5 minutes....losing ourselves in the comraderie and competition it went too fast as it always does.

Soon we were in Galconda. Standing and waiting for our anchor man to come down that last street where we would all cross the finish line together as the announcer, announces all of our names..As Silas came roaring down the street, we noticed something funny. Along the way, he had stopped and picked some purple flowers and stuck them in the end of the baton!!! Only briefly obviously for he was really churning, but it looked funny. like a bridal boquet and the announcer at the finish line thought it was funny as well and pointed it out.

We had won. We get a free entry once again for next year!!!!! The barbeque and bands in Galconda on this warm day was WONDERFUL!! I just walked around like I do each year and just lost myself and tried to take it all in. I hurt my back on the first leg and was really hurting, but It was still wonderful..

We took a picture as a team with the Ohio River as a backdrop, I walked around by myself along the River and sat annonymously and unnoticed amongst various groups, felt guilty when I caught myself flirting with that girl from Madison Wisconsin and left fast and talked to everyone that I knew..

Saw and talked to Gordon...Saw Gary Romesser.....listened to the band and bought another barbeque pork steak....

The next morning, we got up at 7a.m. I could hardly put on my pants because my back was so bad...we met out number 1 runner Amy and her husband in the parking lot and They along with Me, Bill, Tim and Jason went for our traditional post-race breakfast.

The award for most valuable this trip was a tough call, but Terry's second leg was clearly over and beyond the call of duty and had he been at the breakfast, his breakfast would have been free as being awarded the 2004 most valuable effort......

The drive home was longer...or seemed so...kept alive only by the conversation of Tim Ryder who keeps even boring drives on the road interesting by talking about "Southpark" and "Chappelle"? show which I plan to start watching....anyway.....

So, I get home and Jo has lunch made for me and I am sitting there watchingTV and listening to Bob Woodward talk about Dick Cheney and I'm gettin a little irritated because, Jo is trying to talk to me about the weekend and I can't concentrate on both things at once....and..........

In time the Rockies may crumble

Gibraltar may tumble

They´re only made of clay

But our love is here to stay

maybe I shoulda remembered that.