![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_2759.jpg\")
<\/a> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_2760.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThey were posted by Dee Dee Urquhart, a Marathon Maniac legend that should be inducted into their hall of fame any day now.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if she took them or they were sent to her so if I\u2019m failing to correctly credit the shooter, my apologies.\u00a0 My gut says they were taken by Dennis R Smeltzer as he\u2019s shooting some great stuff this week.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t say for sure.<\/p>\n
What I can say is that the air quality has taken a smoky turn and these photos perfectly capture it, better than all my prose and failed photos from yesterday could.<\/p>\n
In light of that, late last night the good folks at Mainly Marathons sent an email out to folks.\u00a0 It reads:<\/p>\n
These guys are doing everything they can to ensure runners have a safe, fun, and positive experience\u2026 even if that means people decide to opt out of the run.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a look at that air quality indicator.<\/p>\n I\u2019m pretty sure we are smack dab in the middle of the harshest coloring.<\/p>\n But like the apocryphal US Postal Service slogan, neither rain, nor hail, nor dark of night, nor smoky horizons, nor typhoon, nor zombie apocalypse is likely to deter the majority of us from doing those loops and getting those rubber bands.\u00a0 But they made the effort and that\u2019s a testament to how these folks roll.<\/p>\n To be honest, the air this morning was probably a little better than yesterday.\u00a0 Unlike yesterday\u2019s solid color haze of sky, driving into Hells Gate we could even see the moon.\u00a0 It looked just like the sun yesterday (or even later today). \u00a0It was a shiny red orb in the grey sky.\u00a0 Who needs an eclipse when wildfires can simulate the experience?<\/p>\n I had written a long explanation for the tough day I had on the course.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve cut it.\u00a0 See? \u00a0I\u2019m capable of editing when the mood strikes me.\u00a0 It\u2019s not always half-assed prose that goes up on this site.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s three-quarters-assed!<\/p>\n To make a long story short (too late, as they say in Clue<\/em>), this was a mentally grinding and physically draining day.\u00a0 Again, the air was easier to swallow if not breathe, but I think maybe the cumulative effects of miles, of smoke, and of life in general are taking a toll.\u00a0 The course itself was a flattened figure eight \u2013 we ran out a half mile to a black cone, turned around, ran back past the aid station and ran out another half mile to a second black cone (there are two?!\u00a0 But\u2026 but\u2026 ) and then ran back to the aid station to complete the loop and start again.\u00a0 As all courses have been this series, it was 14 loops for the marathon.\u00a0 And while today was still slightly long on the loops, it was much shorter than Clarkston. \u00a0Nonetheless, I wound up with my (so far) slowest time of the series.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t take many photos \u2013 the darkness and haze made shooting pics on the run extra blurry.\u00a0 But here\u2019s what I did capture \u201cin motu\u201d as a bunch of dead Romans might have said in Latin:<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Because I feel like this is a particularly skimpy recap, here\u2019s a shot from downtown Lewiston I meant to put up earlier.\u00a0 I imagine it\u2019s a tribute to a lost second verse of the famed \u201cShave and A Haircut\u201d bit.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0 <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\u00a0<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n