-
NYC 2024 Marathon – The Rest of the Story
Do you remember a movie from the 80’s called “Planes, Trains and Automobiles“? Well if you haven’t seen that yet, you should really check it out. It’s really funny and it’s Thanksgiving themed. And if you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check out last week’s NYC pre-race report, where we take an Uber, to a ferry, to a bus, JUST to run 26.2 miles! And once that’s done, come back here for the rest of the NYC 2024 Marathon story. Bridge #1 – the Verrazzano Narrows Once the cannon went off my shuffle to the start line began. It wasn’t but a minute before I crossed the start…
-
Check Out the Newest Lounge at LaGuardia
Hey there Friends. Having just arrived home from a trip to NYC, we would love to share with you our thoughts about this Delta Sky Club. So…grab a cup of something warm and check out the newest lounge at LaGuardia International Airport. Lots of Room for Lounging Located just past security in Terminal C, the Sky Club is one of the largest in the Delta network, boasting over 35,000 square feet and seating for more than 700 travelers. Anyone who has spent time in a crowded airport lounge will really appreciate all the space available. Status is “Perk-a-Licious” When we arrived at 7:30 am, there was a short queue waiting…
-
Looking for the Light at the End of the Tunnel
Join us this week as we unpack the incredible journey our kidney donor athlete underwent to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Through a tough path, he went looking for the light at the the end of the tunnel at the Tunnel Light Marathon. The Long and Short of it “Great moments are born from great opportunities.” – Herb Brooks The Short Version: Did the work. Believed. Crushed the goal. The Long Version: Although the short version sums up what happened, I hope you’ll take the time to read this. So many feelings and emotions about the buildup and this race that I’m not sure I have the words to adequately…
-
Surprising Things We Learned about Berlin
With the Berlin marathon fast approaching, I thought it might be fun to do a little post mortem on the surprising things we learned about Berlin. What we already knew Now I had NEVER been to Germany and Stephen hadn’t been since he was stationed there back in the early 90’s. So we knew SOME things like: But there were a LOT of things about Berlin that surprised us. Like… 1. It’s prettier and greener than we expected Maybe it was because of all the Jason Bourne-esque / spy thrillers that show Berlin as this industrial, post-cold war, gray, concrete city, but I was a really surprised at how beautiful…
-
London – the Rest of the Story
Though we were in London for the marathon, we did make time to see a few fun sites about town before we had to skip back across the pond. Of course, we did manage the secret bar crawl in the evenings during the week, but we took advantage of THE WHOLE day Saturday and we want to share the highlights with you. So grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us for a look at London – the Rest of the Story. First…Finally saw Ben in ALL his glory So this wasn’t our first time in London. In fact, this was third time I attempted to see Big…
-
The London Marathon – The Last of the World Majors
It’s been over nine weeks since I completed the London Marathon, becoming the first kidney donor to earn the coveted Six Star Finisher medal for completing all of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. We finally had a little down time for me to get around to writing a recap of the historic race. Before we get into all that, I’ll provide a little background info on what happened leading up to the race. So grab a cold one, kick back, and relax. Here is the recap of the London Marathon – the last of the World Majors! The Pre-Race Injury As many of you already know I injured my back four…
-
Sumo Wrestling: The Best Way to Start Your Day
With the Tokyo Marathon quickly approaching, we decided to slow our roll just a bit. This week join us as we unpack one of our last two days in Japan including visiting the restaurant wrecked by the Crazy 88s, and walking the Shibuya Crossing. Oh and of course, Sumo Wrestling: The Best Way to Start Your Day! Starting the Day by Running with the Sumos Traveling in the off-season has it’s benefits: But it also has some down sides, like missing out on some of the big draws of tourist season. For Tokyo, this included the blooming of the cherry blossoms and for us, watching Sumo wrestling. Not wanting to…
-
The Road to the Tokyo Marathon
After our 14+ hour flight via Delta One, we arrived in Japan. One of us was well rested. The other was just too excited to sleep. After all, we had weeks of temples, shrines, pagodas, pandas and snow monkeys ahead of us. After our driver took a wrong turn, taking us a half hour out of our way and getting a ticket. We finally unpacked our bags to begin our adventure on the road to the Tokyo Marathon. Day 1 – The EARLY Morning We arrived at the Sotetsu Fresa Inn around 10pm local time and were glad to drop our bags in our little room. At first, it felt…
-
TBT: The Most Amazing Sound We Ever Heard
“Living in interesting times” has been reported to be an ancient Chinese curse. Navigating our way through the Covid pandemic, things sure did get interesting. People who love to run races dealt with cancellations, medical testing, socially distanced running and lots of rescheduling. Here’s a look at an incredible experience resulting from the Boston Marathon being rescheduled for the day after the Chicago Marathon. This was the day we went storm chasing in Gloucester and experience the most amazing sound we ever heard. What Came Before Since “the before” is a whole story in itself, let me briefly sketch what the weekend looked like for us: And Then…Vacation! By some…
-
Diplomatic Immunity
I’m so excited to be traveling down to Jacksonville Beach this weekend to take part in the DONNA Race Weekend as an Ambassador for Destination Marathons. Although diplomatic immunity isn’t one of the perks, it’s exciting to be a part of something that combines two of my favorite things to do, travel and run. The Mission Destination Marathons provides a VIP experience for runners and spectators. They manage all the logistics so guests can focus on the race, build friendships, and create memories. And I will get to witness this in action for the first time! As one who generally does all the planning that goes into a “racecation”, it’s…
