Some Year-End Ketchup

End of the year hodgepodge. Awhile ago I told you about H's nice first marathon, a fine 4:07 at the MCM in October here in DC. I ran with her for awhile near the end, picking her up on the 14th Street Bridge near MP 20. She came up on me very fast amidst the swirl of runners going by and I was only able to snap a herky-jerky picture of her as she approached that only caught half of her. Here is a better picture of my friend H, taken a few weeks later following an early Saturday run on the Mall. (Photo credit B.)

Soup's on! I told you earlier that unbeknownst to me, I was pictured inside the October issue of the epicurean magazine Cooking Light, in a Healthy Living feature on DC (the third best-rated city, behind Seattle and Portland on the Left Coast). The full-page photo on page 75 used two anonymous joggers running by the Jefferson Memorial to illustrate DC's "walkability" (go figure) and I was one of them. Here is the photograph, generously sent to me by the magazine and used with the gracious permission of the photographer. (Photo credit Douglas Merriam.) The actual moment captured on film didn't register with me at the time, but when I saw the picture months later while perusing the magazine rack at Union Station, I instantly remembered the situation and vaguely remembered the encounter. The photograph was taken early in the morning on Saturday, July 21st, during the second outing of the twelve week dcrrc 10-Mile Training Program leading up to the Army 10-Mile Race in October while Mary Ellen and I were running counter-clockwise around the Tidal Basin on a 3.7 mile training run at a 9:20 pace. I know I saw the photographer because I have my there's-a-tourist-shooting-a-picture fake smile plastered upon my face. From racing experience, I have learned to look up and smile whenever I see a photographer snapping pictures.

Details, details. My former running buddy A, who moved out of town last summer, has been posted on a work detail to Tokyo for a year by her law firm. She is leaving next month for Japan. Here is a picture of her on the left in DC fooling around with her friend H, who spent many hours helping her pack up her Capitol Hill apartment. She looks good running or slumming. Have a safe journey and a good year, A.