Finding a good run...

Far be it from me to knock someone while they're down, but...

In case you haven't already seen the Seattle Times article, the Seattle Marathon is under quite a bit of scrutiny for advertising the race as a fund-raiser for UW Medicine, but not actually giving a cent of the $120 entry fee to UW Medicine. And the article goes on to say how a large (VERY large) amount of cash is paid to race director Louise Long.

Since I've been writing articles about running, I've interviewed dedicated runners. I've interviewed passionate race directors. I've interviewed smart, funny, warm, giving, open, and just plain nice people involved in every aspect of the running world.

I've also interviewed Louise Long.

While I've got nothing against huge benefit races in general, for your next race try a small, local run. They usually give their money to good causes as well...right there in your home town.

In fact, if you're looking for a race in the Skagit Valley, try the Nookachamps Winter Runs on January 12 in Mt. Vernon. Race Director Keefer Whan is one of those plain nice people, plus he's one of the fastest runners in the area, so you can ask for tips before the race.

The photos are from last year's Nookachamps race. Yes, it was cold.

The newest bit of writing...

The latest article has hit the newsstands between the covers of the Winter issue of Adventures NW Magazine. I almost made the top billing this time. That's the one right there, "NW Night Running", second from the top. What's up top? "Cascades. A Pilot's View". Booooorrrring. Actually, I'm sure it's a very nice article...if you read it, let me know.

Anyhoo, the night running article is about, well, running at night. The boom in the 24-hour relay and the fact that anyone that runs after 4:30 this time of year is, in fact, running in the dark.

When taking some great pictures for the article (that were not chosen as worthy by the editors), at Northern State Park in Sedro Woolley, Jen and I bothered a couple of kids steaming up the windows of their Toyota. They clearly thought no one in their right mind would go to a park that has no lighting in the middle of the night. Well, they thought that right up until I hit them with the headlights. Hello!

Just a little short...

Like about 35,000 words short.

No, I didn't finish my 50,000 word novel in the month of November, so I am not a "winner" in the National Novel Writing Month that ended yesterday. Oh, I've got excuses: leaving for work at six in the morning and getting back at seven at night. Had family over for the holidays. Had to finish an article in the first week of November...but really, it's my fault and my fault alone.

For the first two weeks of November, I only had a vague notion of what I wanted to do in my novel. I spent so much time thinking about my plot and trying to make it come together that I didn't have any time left to actually write. NEXT year, I will use October for plotting and get busy writing on November 1st. This year, I finally got going during the 3rd week of November and had plenty of ideas to write about, but by then I was hopelessly behind. Sigh.

Ah well, if nothing else, I've got a nice little start on my novel and a decent idea of how it's going to get to the end. Maybe I can finish this one before next November so I can write my second one next year...and be a winner (you've got to say that in the "Seinfeld-you're ALL winners" voice for it to really work).