MadTravel - madtravel

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American Falls
Picture 071.jpg 2008-07-23

Pre-Limping Dog
niagara-falls2.jpg 2009-11-17

Limping Dog
Picture 083.jpg 2009-10-28

Mz Mary
Picture 076.jpg 2008-07-23

Mary post finish
Picture 078.jpg 2008-07-23

Tina @ Falls
TinaCanada.jpg 2009-11-20

Ms MadCanada w/ MadDog
MadCanada.jpg 2009-11-20

Trisha + Dog
Picture 073.jpg 2008-07-23

Dog w/ son
Picture 074.jpg 2008-07-23

Mary finishing
Picture 077.jpg 2008-07-23

Willie + Jr + Dog
Picture 072.jpg 2008-07-23

Boat on Niagara
Picture 002.jpg 2008-07-22

Niagara pre Falls
Picture 003.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 004.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 006.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 007.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 008.jpg 2008-07-22

Under Falls
Picture 009.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 012.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 013.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 014.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 015.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 016.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 017.jpg 2008-07-22

Picture 019.jpg
Picture 019.jpg 2008-07-22

Mary
Picture 020.jpg 2008-07-22

Jimmy & Trisha
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Canadian Falls
Picture 022.jpg 2008-07-22

Maid below Falls
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Maid below Falls
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Above Falls
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Above Falls
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Family
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Jimmy
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Canadian fall colors
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American fall colors
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Mary
Picture 031.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 032.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian fall colors
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American Falls
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American Falls
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Canadian Falls
Picture 037.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian fall colors
Picture 038.jpg 2008-07-22

My Hotel
Picture 039.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls (mist)
Picture 040.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 041.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 042.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 043.jpg 2008-07-22

Bridal Falls
Picture 044.jpg 2008-07-22

American Falls
Picture 046.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian (mist)
Picture 047.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 049.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 050.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Falls
Picture 052.jpg 2008-07-22

Mary
Picture 053.jpg 2008-07-22

Jimmy & Trisha
Picture 054.jpg 2008-07-22

Jimmy & Trisha
Picture 055.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian side
Picture 056.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian Cigar
Picture 057.jpg 2008-07-22

Jimmy
Picture 058.jpg 2008-07-22

Trisha
Picture 059.jpg 2008-07-22

Canadian fall colors
Picture 060.jpg 2008-07-22

American fall colors
Picture 061.jpg 2008-07-22

Downstream
Picture 063.jpg 2008-07-22

Downstream
Picture 064.jpg 2008-07-22

Pre Falls
Picture 065.jpg 2008-07-22

Downstream
Picture 066.jpg 2008-07-23

Downstream
Picture 067.jpg 2008-07-23

Downstream clock
Picture 069.jpg 2008-07-23

Blackie
Picture 062.jpg 2008-07-23

Above Falls
Picture 079.jpg 2008-07-23

Above Falls
Picture 080.jpg 2008-07-23

Above Falls
Picture 081.jpg 2008-07-23

Above Falls
Picture 082.jpg 2008-07-23

When the wife and I arrived at the Atlanta airport last Friday, I received a very nice surprise for my 71^st birthday; my son and fiancée were there to join us on our trip to Niagara Falls. It seems everybody knew but me!

Upon arrival at the Buffalo Airport, a few of my clients decided to split up and share cabs crossing the border into Canada. As we pulled out of the airport I asked the driver to stop so I could get Mz BossDog's and my passport out of our luggage in the trunk. That's when one of my maniacs realized he had left his passport at home. He said he had a copy of it in his luggage (what?), which was coming on a later flight due to his showing up late at the airport; we left him at the Buffalo one! He eventually managed to cross into Canada, but didn't know if American customs would allow him to cross back (after all we're the ones with a terrorist problem). Later that day, those of us running the Half went to the race expo, located in the famous Skylon Tower, and picked up our packets; marathon runner had to do this on Saturday. I was originally entered in the Full, but successfully changed to the Half last week. The remainder of the day was spent teaching my maniacs how to get drunk.

Saturday morning a few of us attended an organized breakfast run with Captain Canada and others from all over the world; then I, as usual, skipped the breakfast held at Planet Hollywood. I had originally set up a 4½ hour tour of Niagara Falls, including the famous "Maid of the Mist" boat ride, for my group to start at 9:30 a.m. this day, but they ended up changing us to 11:30 a.m.; missed hooking up with some good running friends as a result. Took tons of photos, had lots of fun and got really, Really, REALLY WET! Spent the remainder of the day drinking and watching college football at a nearby pub.

Sunday (race morning), I met up with my Canadian friend Pace Bunny Willie so I could give him his race packet which I had picked up for him, and got to meet his son for the first time; a very nice young man. I then caught the bus to the start area (halfway point of the marathon), killed time doing the usual stuff and tried to stay warm until the start. Race conditions were in the mid 40s and somewhat windy at times.

My plan for this event was to do it as a training run because a calf injury had prevented me doing little more than the minimum preparation; if that. Note that this injury forced me to drop out 4½ miles into last month's Philly Distance Run and my goal was only to reach the finish line this time. After the event started I soon realized that despite a slow pace, my heart rate had settled into what it would normally be during a full marathon - not a training run. However, it felt comfortable, familiar and relatively easy for doing a Half; so I just kept plodding along rather than backing off… After all my pace was too slow to call it racing, I had barely accomplished two recent jogs of 13 miles and therefore expected I would slow down due to the lack of endurance training. So… for the first time I actually allowed myself to enjoy the scenery and even stopped for a potty break because I truly wasn't racing.

At a little past 5 miles Pace Bunny Willie came cruising up beside me and we took the opportunity to chat it up for a while. During our conversations I learned that I had picked up the wrong race packet for him. Apparently the lady issuing them didn't realize there were two Willie Maykits entered! We both suspected the error could be corrected in the finish area and in hindsight, it apparently was. Eventually we arrived at the 10 mile mark where Willie planned to start a sprint to the finish and he certainly did so in fine form.

With less than 2 miles to go I observed an old geezer passing by, you know all wrinkly and stuff; he also appeared to be in my age division. I didn't react but let him go on. Shortly thereafter I noticed he had slowed a bit and appeared to be looking over his shoulder gauging the distance between us. I also noted that each time I got close to him he would surge ahead. To me, this meant he was running my race - not his own. That's a big mistake to make and I almost decided to mess with him because of it, but didn't because I was sure my calf would shut me down if I started racing. Even though I was running at a slow but fairly consistent pace, the dude kept falling back then surging. So, with less than ½ mile to go I decided to be kind and end his misery; I ran off and left him. However, he must have tried to keep up, because the results show he didn't finish that far behind me. I met up with Willie again shortly after crossing the finish line, introduced him and his son to my son and got my son to take a picture of us, which many of you will probably see later.

My wife had a good race and finished in the time she expected. She also placed 4^th in the 65-69 Div (1^st American). Most of my other clients also ran well; one even managed a Boston qualifier while dealing with what appeared to be a severe case of the flu. In fact she became delirious, couldn't walk, couldn't talk, couldn't stop shaking, and was running a fever as her husband and I dragged her into medical!

Bottom Line ~ Despite being way under-trained, I reached the finish line and won the 70 and over division in 1:43:40 (1 of 8 in 70+ male div, 137 of 620 males, 172 of 1747 o/a finishers). Note that women outnumbered men by almost 2 to 1!

PS: My friend made it back across the border, but was forced to cut up and destroy a perfectly good Cuban cigar in doing so.

10/28/2009 10:57:45 AM - 002095573175
Jimmy looks pretty damned intrepid in this picture!