This weekend marks a road trip to see some classic friends. Originally it was a double weekend with a marathon in Maryland and a marathon in North Carolina. As I mentioned yesterday, the NC race is now a half marathon… and despite my disappointment at NC swapping out distances (and ongoing confusion over the trouble of running 4 loops for a full versus the approved 2 loops for the half), it may be for the best to cut the mileage. I am after all driving quite a bit.<\/p>\n
But it’s certainly worth it, regardless of the races proper. On my way up to Maryland, I’m stopping to see one of my best friends from back in the grade school days to today. Rob VanSchooneveld has called Charlotte, NC, home since graduating college. It’s been far too long and I’m looking forward to catching up with him and his family. They’re even letting me stay with them, thus I was able to cancel my hotel on the outskirts of the Queen City.<\/p>\n
From there, I’m heading up to Cumberland, MD, to run funnily enough the Queen City Marathon<\/a>. I’ve only known Charlotte to be nicknamed the Queen City but as with most things in life, there’s more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in Horatio’s philosophy.\u00a0 That or perhaps a quote from Mark Twain’s Own Autobiography fits best here… or indeed, describes everything that has ever been:<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In any case, I’m a little concerned now about running Queen City.\u00a0 As long as I’m quote happy, here’s what is listed under “Considerations<\/a>” for this event… things I perhaps should have considered BEFORE clicking on the registration button all those months ago:<\/p>\n *With the unpredictable weather in early Spring, there is the possibility of ice, snow, or mud in spots. The temps can range from frigid to warm within a few hours. Rain is highly likely. Please prepare accordingly.<\/p>\n *Gaitors are recommended but not required.<\/p>\n *The course goes through the Brush Tunnel near mile 12 & 16. It is\u00a0supposed<\/i>\u00a0to be lit but this\u00a0 is not a guarantee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I’m sure it’ll be fun but as a result of the promised scenic but challenging course, maybe it’s for the best that Carrboro, NC, will be a half-marathon distance.\u00a0 My legs post-run and post-six-hour-drive to Carrboro may be a little cramped.<\/p>\n The Not-So-Normal Half Marathon<\/a> is being run entirely within the Carrboro city limits.\u00a0 Years ago I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, better known as Carolina.\u00a0 Much like the duplicate Queen City nickname, I hear there are other places<\/a> claiming to be “Carolina.”\u00a0 Ignore them.\u00a0 UNC Chapel Hill is and always will be Carolina.\u00a0 Tar Heel pride and all that.\u00a0 I wasn’t a Tar Hell born but I was most assuredly a Tar Heel bred.<\/p>\n And speaking of Tar Heels, some of my classic collegiate friends are still in the Chapel Hill vicinity.\u00a0 I’m catching up with Harper Gordek and his family (who have kindly agreed to put me up, just as Rob and his family are doing in Charlotte).\u00a0 I can’t say how nice it is to have friends and family let me crash at their place during my road misadventures… and that’s not just because the palces are so much nicer than the murder hotels I am wont to stay in to say a few bucks.\u00a0 I don’t see these folks nearly enough and despite the media blare of social media as a force to be reckoned with, I somehow feel more isolated from and out-of-touch with friends thanks to the narrowcasting broadcasting social media messages.\u00a0 So the face-to-face time for dinner. drinks, and conversation is something I greatly cherish and look forward to on these road trips.<\/p>\n I’ll also be able to catch up with Brian Newport (who has offered to put me up for the Tar Heel Ten Miler in a few weeks) and the possibility of catching up with several other Tar Heels still in the area.\u00a0 I haven’t confirmed who I’ll see but that’s half the fun at the moment — a reunion without it being a big deal.\u00a0 I’m not one for pomp and circumstance and formality.\u00a0 I’d much prefer an impromptu, “Hey!\u00a0 Great to see you!” get-together.<\/p>\n Carolina is playing in the Final Four NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Saturday night so I’m sure to catch some folks when I get into town.\u00a0 And as an added bonus, I just found out Harper is running the half marathon on Sunday.\u00a0 We’ll be able to cheer each other on in a footrace just as we cheer each other on in life.<\/p>\n Should be a good weekend of running, friends, and life.\u00a0 Now I just need to rally and get out for my run this afternoon.\u00a0 I woke up this morning feeling kinda “meh.”\u00a0 But in looking ahead to the fun that awaits, I’m feeling better already.\u00a0 A few more miles on the ol’ running shoes can only further improve my mood.<\/p>\n To classic friends near and far — thoughts of you and your support\/encouragement make a difference in a race but also just on a day-to-day basis.\u00a0 So thanks for being my friend and putting up with me for all these years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This weekend marks a road trip to see some classic friends. Originally it was a double weekend with a marathon in Maryland and a marathon in North Carolina. As I mentioned yesterday, the NC race is now a half marathon… and despite my disappointment at NC swapping out distances (and ongoing confusion over the trouble […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[492,484,490,84,491,486,488,487,489,493,485],"class_list":["post-1555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-brian","tag-carrboro","tag-charlotte","tag-city","tag-harper","tag-heel","tag-md","tag-nc","tag-queen","tag-rob","tag-tar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}