Day 33: Head Over Heals

You think I'm talking about fallin' in love with running, don't you?  Nope, I'm talkin' the nightmare of every graduate...the hate of every snoozer...and the dread of every runner: the trip and the inevitable fall.  Yes, it was bound to happen, and today was my lucky day...

Our run started off normal enough, headed to Grandma's since there is nowhere else to run in a foot of snow.  The sidewalks seemed extra icy around the corners, and we were still dodging snow piles and tip-toeing across uncleared patches of danger.  The goal was 4 miles.  We decided it'd be best to go to Grandma's and back, and then do 4 laps around the upper lot to complete our run.  For some reason the run to Grandma's never seems to get easier or shorter.  Every day I'm counting each incline, relishing each descent, and getting excited when I see the "turn-around" bushes just beyond her place.  I suppose this run was no different, and I was obviously anxious to get to our destination and turn around.  Before I knew it, there, in front of Grandma's house, I was airborne, my feet flying out to the left, my right knee and elbow soon connecting with the icy driveway.
Rats.  I hope no one saw that.

Athena of course was a great support, giving the initial gasp of shock, and then.....laughing...naturally.  Its a good thing I didn't need someone to call an ambulance, because I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have been a help in that department... : )

I'm happy to say that I'm no worse for the wear.  I've only found one bruise, and no aches or pains (aside from that of normal running).  Must be all that toned muscle that cushioned me...ha, yeah, I'll just keep telling myself that...

Posted by Kendra

Day 32: LOST!!

Today's long run was Kendra's to plan, so naturally we ran in her "neck of the woods" - seriously.  We went from Kendra's parents' home to a place known as Blymire Hollow and then around some of the wooded area nearby.

Well, right away I should have known that this run could be interesting...

We decided to take this "flat loop" and, after about 1/4 of a mile, we started making quite the steep ascent!  Kendra said not to worry, that we'd get to turn left onto a road that was halfway up the hill.  Well, we did turn left, but we had run up the WHOLE HILL first!  After the left turn, there was more uphill!  AHH!  At this point, Kendra mentioned that she hadn't been on those roads since she was fishing on a local pond as a little girl - I'm guessing that was probably at least 15 years ago!

We continued on the thinly snow-covered roads and vetoed a road we should have taken, simply because it had not been plowed and had probably about 6 inches of snow cover on the road.  From there came many more hills than expected - gradual hills that didn't seem to end!

By this time we had gone beyond where Kendra had traveled before...

(and now the REAL fun began!)

My philosophy during the phase of the run where we were clueless as to our location:  KEEP TURNING LEFT!!!   There was a road I wanted to turn left onto, but Kendra thought it would lead to more uphills, so we compromised and took the next left (though we later realized the first road would have been a good shortcut... shucks!).  We kinda freaked out on the next road because the house numbers were like 12150 (seriously, what road has house numbers THAT HIGH?!?)... we thought we might be running forever!

Well, we went the correct direction and pretty shortly came across a main road, at which time Kendra had her bearings on our location (though she was totally flabbergasted that we made it to that main road - how in the world did we ever get THERE?!?).  We were able to connect with a small road that ended up being the same road we started on (therefore allowing us to complete our modified loop!)... whew!

We can happily say that we found our way back to my car without asking for directions OR turning around (though retracing our paths was definitely a highly considered back-up option!).

Overall, I'd say it was a good run - just challenging enough (because of the hills and snowy roads), not too much traffic, and GORGEOUS with the snow-covered trees in the woods!  Plus, it was a great adventure for two chicas with a newly found love for adventures!  Our 7 mile run was successfully completed!!

P.S.  I believe we were able to finish the run because we had the promise of delicious cheese pizza at Kendra's parents' home when we made it back (provided we survived the run!).  A huge THANK YOU to Kendra's family!

Check out our running video from today (sorry for the poor image quality)...

Day 31: Snowy Sidewalks, Secret Snacks & Spandex n' Shorts

It was hard to get up this morning, especially after a day off due to the snow storm.  I knew two things would face me:  1) A body that resists the 5am alarm (what's new, right?), and 2) huge piles of snow left behind, just for us. Both expectations came true.

I must commend many of the neighbors, however, for their superb snowblowermanship.  The sidewalks looked really good...that is until we were halfway up the final hill before descending to Grandma's house.  If my memory serves me correctly, this particular house is either vacant, or the owner does not have either a shovel, a snowblower, or his arms.  It is always treacherous on this particular stretch, but today it was completely impassable.  We had no other choice but to turn around and finish the run with two laps around the track's upper parking lot.  I'm sorry if I sound perturbed, but, well, I was perturbed.  

I found this run rather difficult, although Athena seemed to do really well (too well, if you ask me).   Perhaps it was because she pulled a Bendra and broke out her spandex and shorts!  That'll do it.  My secret weapon (I thought), was the Hershey kiss I ate right before running.  It did nothing but add an extra ounce to run with.  Kids, don't try this at home...

The goal today was 3 miles.  Thanks to my missing analog watch (is God trying to tell me something?), we have no clue what our time was.  

Stay tuned for exciting details to come... Will we survive our 7 miler this weekend?!  Send your votes!  We hope we'll return to tally them...

(I think that kiss is finally kickin' in!  Sorry...)

Posted by Kendra

Day 30: Let it Snow!

It's a blizzard out there!  No kidding, the snow was beating down on us this morning at 5:20am on our 4 mile run.  As far as I can remember, that's the first time we've actually run while it's snowing, although definitely not the first time running on top of of the snow.  Poor Athena, she could barely see through her glasses.  I felt like I had snow drifts on my eyelids.  Ben complained of burning eyeballs. (I think he just needs to change his contacts!  : )  The sidewalks were not nearly as treacherously icy as in the past, so I can't say the weather made this run too unbearable.  My body just generally rebels at movement. 


We completed the 4 miles in about 44 minutes...not breakin' any records, but considering the blizzard, I'd say that's pretty good.  


Now, to go wash the blood off my clothes... I tell ya, it was a tough run. (haha, Ben...)


Posted by Kendra

Day 29: A tough 3-miler...

Kendra & I were very thankful that we didn't plan on running yesterday morning when it was -1 degree Fahrenheit!  But this morning we also weren't thankful for our alarms going off BEFORE 5:00 AM!  It was much warmer, though (maybe like 30 degrees?), so I guess we cannot complain TOO much...

We met at 5:15am for a run to Kendra's Grandma's house (we need a little more creativity in our early morning running routines... ha!).  We forgot to look at the time when we left, but are figuring it took us around 30 minutes to run the 3 miles.

This morning's run wasn't hard because of snow or ice or extreme cold or anything like that, but I know that I definitely felt like puking afterward (and I don't think Kendra felt too great after the run, either).  You see, inside my head I had determined that if we ran faster, we'd be done sooner... so I think we ran a bit harder than usual (sorry, Kendra!).  We both got cramps on the dreaded "home stretch", which is slightly uphill, but we were glad to be finished!

Fun fact:  it took teamwork in order for Kendra & I to be able to take a post-run picture this morning... her camera didn't have a battery and my camera didn't have a memory card, so we shared what we DID have!

Day 28: (the unofficial) Grandparent's Day

Apparently Athena has been getting tired of running to my grandma's house, so she decided a great long run would be to head to her grandparents' house!  Ben must have been in on it too, because we "just happened" to go right by his grandma's house too!  That's alright with me, though, because something grandparents are notorious for is warmly welcoming you in, and if you're lucky, you may also get some hot chocolate out of it too.  A big thanks to Marvin and Nancy Gibble for your hospitality, and for sharing your birthday cake and hot chocolate with us...what a great finish line!


My thoughts were not as charitable towards Athena, however, during the 6.6 mile run.  I should have figured that if we were running to Seven Valleys, it was extremely possible that we would have to run down and then up several of the valleys.  I guess I just wasn't prepared to do six of the seven...  


It hurt.


Ben stayed pretty much ahead of us the entire run, occasionally checking to make sure we hadn't passed out along the way.  Athena did great, never stopping or walking once.  She tried to encourage me to keep going, but the last big hill did me in (she called it a "gradual uphill grade"--it was Mount Everest).  I had to walk the last 30 or so feet to the top, although my walking was not much slower than her running.  ; )  She had a hard time figuring why I couldn't just run the rest of the way if I was walking a similar pace.  Her dad pointed out that walking uses different muscles, and let me tell you, I've been using those muscles for over 20 years.  These new running muscles have only been in use the last 8 weeks!


We (Athena and I) finished the route in 1 hour and 18 minutes, with Ben probably shaving a minute or two off that time.  

Day 27: To Grandma's House (AGAIN!)

Kendra & I headed out on an almost 4 mile run this morning at 5:15am.  We were supposed to run a full 4 miles, but are unsure of whether or not we clocked it correctly.  It seems as though it was actually something like 3.5 miles.

Regardless... we ran to Kendra's grandma's house, down into a little development, to the town square, and then back to the school.  There were some unexpected hills, but we made it in what we figure to be a little less than 40 minutes (which is why we knew it couldn't have been a full 4 miles!).

The conditions today were MUCH less icy and I didn't feel like I was going to break my neck with each step... WHEW!  That's especially good because there was a very important volleyball match that I absolutely needed to play later in the evening... haha!

Thought to ponder:

My runner friend, Justin, shared this running insight the other day:  "If you hate running, you're doing it wrong".  Apparently the key to enjoying running is "turn it into an adventure instead of a chore", thanks to another seasoned runner, Eric.

Maybe we can learn to enjoy this running stuff after all...

Day 26: Spinning our Wheels

Hello!  Whether you like it or not, I am your guest writer today.  My name is Ben, and I've been running with Athena and Kendra on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  They have been getting better and better... And apparently when I only run two days a week, it's infrequent enough that I notice their increase in pace.  But, I'm excited for them because they are sticking to it... and they certainly motivate me!  I have Wednesdays off from work, and I'm telling you, running in the cold (actually, running in of itself) at 5:15 in the morning would NOT be on the top of my priority list.  So thanks you two for the motivation!

This morning's run was borderline insane.  We started at the track, then ran out through town past Kendra's grandmas house, and made a turn around in the roundabout of an apartment complex.  We made our way back to the track where we had parked our vehicles.  This all doesn't sound too bad, except the fact that it was QUITE icy.  It is pretty amazing that none of us fell, as I know that all of us slipped multiple times on the sidewalks.  In fact, at times, we felt like we were "spinning our wheels," going nowhere fast as with each step, our foot would slip out from beneath us.  Not only was there ice, but also piles of snow to leap over, puddles to stomp through (camouflage puddles mind you), making our feet not only cold, but also wet.  Some parts had to be walked because they were so slippery!

I noticed that girls make funny sounds when they slip.  There's these little "whoop", "ahhack", "iiiip!", and other random noises that I heard coming out of the girls' mouths.  It entertained me though, and as I slipped and said, "Whooo!" I realized that maybe guys make funny sounds too, haha.  Overall, the run was certainly adventurous, perhaps a bit dangerous, but of course fun.  The only problem was on narrow, slippery sidewalks, we weren't able to talk much because at best we could run two by two, but lots of parts we were single file.  Also, we discovered that taking our eyes off of where our feet were landing was sometimes risky business indeed!

With the conditions slowing us down (which ironically made a run through town into more of a cross training run) our time was a bit slower than other runs.  We ran 3.5 miles (according to my truck) in about 40 minutes.  Tomorrow, I'll be safely working, while the girls go at it yet again!

 Posted by Ben ><>

Day 25: My First Race!

After 22 years of living, I finally participated in my first race!  It was quite exciting...well, at least the chicken soup at the end was exciting...haha  No, really I was a bit nervous before the 5K started.  During, I was a little scared.  By the end, I was relieved.  My "experienced" running buddies, Athena and Leah, did great on the run, although they both admitted to being nervous while we paced around, waiting to start.  (Maybe they were just trying to make me feel better?  ; )

Our route through the developments surrounding Elizabethtown College was relatively flat, but had a couple unexpected hills here and there.  We enjoyed waving and shouting "Hi!" to the neighbors standing in their driveways watching.  One such lady asked us what we were running for... I couldn't come up with one good reason... just for fun?  Nah, couldn't be that.  Thinking back, it's funny that we could even carry on a conversation with her at all.  Just shows you how fast we were running...

Of course most of the race we were joking about our "love of running."  I think our fellow joggers enjoyed this, but come to think of it, I guess it was a little gutsy of me to suggest shortcuts and complain about hills, considering the fact that some of these people actually enjoy doing this!  Eh, they didn't seem offended.  I bet some would have even joined me if I would have cut through that development instead of going around it...

Our pace was definitely brisker than normal.  I got a cramp in the first tenth of the first mile.  (No worries, it went away)  Leah led the way for most of the run, finally losing us about half of the way through.  We eventually caught up to her in the last tenth, but I was quickly left in the dust again, only this time by Athena sprinting towards the finish line.  We were all within a couple seconds of each other, hovering just under and over 30 minutes.  Not bad for the first one!  Of course come February and March, we'll have do even better, so maybe we shouldn't have even gone that fast this time... oh well.  I'm a beginner.

So I guess I can say I kind of enjoyed this 5K.  Not the running part, mind you, but the interaction with other runners: chatting with the Marine Corps Marathon guy and his dog beforehand, complaining about injuries with the guy who took our picture for us afterwards, thanking the traffic director people at each intersection and having one respond back, "Thanks for running!"  The weather was also gorgeous for a mid-January run... The only thing I can think of that we could have done without was that guy running behind us with the deafeningly swooshy, spandex pants.  Not sure how that's possible, but hopefully we'll outrun him next time.  : )

Athena, Kendra & Leah 

Frozen Foot Series #1

Posted by Kendra

Day 25:  Part TWO!

Yup, that's right... as if the 5K race wasn't enough for us today!!!  We decided to stick to our marathon training schedule and complete a full 5 miles today.  After maybe an hour of relaxing at Leah's apartment, we embarked on a relatively flat run around Etown that ended up being just about 2 miles (1.9 miles to be exact)!  It was perhaps slightly slower than our race pace, but I'd say still fairly quick (though we didn't time it).

Highlights:  Some traffic caused us to have to run in place before crossing the street - we probably ended up running further than we planned!  We came across a limp German Shepherd along the way and decided to reduce the possibility of being chased by moving to the sidewalk on the other side of the street.  We had a short break while Leah picked up a movie from the local Redbox that we passed.

I cannot speak for the other two ladies, but my body was aching slightly after the run.  Actually I still hurt.  However, doing a "short" run was kinda nice - it went by quickly!  We then were excited to treat ourselves to yummy smoothies made with fruits, soy milk, oj, and flax seed... mmm!

Day 24: Ice Skating

So on this run, we actually incorporated a little cross-training action:  ICE SKATING!  That's right.  Our 4-mile distance today was performed completely on a solid sheet of ice...with sneakers no less!  My mom would say "That sounds dangerous!" and it was, but that's just our level of dedication.  Yeah, I'm thinkin' we've gotta be better than at least 2.1 billion people after that performance...


Our run today was another trip to grandma's and back and then 4 laps around the upper parking lot, equaling about 4 miles total.  I'm a little fuzzy on the time, but I'm thinking it was somewhere around 44 minutes.  Ok, we're not breaking any records right now, folks, only our necks.  The sidewalks where treacherous, a combination of 2-6 inches of snow and bumpy, slippery ice.  We praised the few neighbors who, now snuggly still in bed, had shoveled AND salted their portion of the side walk yesterday.  I don't know if they heard us, but we love them!  This run took lots of concentration, but that helped pass the time.

Day 23: We'll conquer that hill yet...

Kendra & I met at my house around 5:15am and planned to run the 3 mile loop near my house... yeah, the one with that killer hill.  It was slow... we were dying.  And we only had 2 reflector strips & one headlamp, so it was tough/dangerous running in the dark morning.  I forget our time... maybe something like 39 minutes?  Honestly we just barely survived.  Shamefully I'll admit that we walked for the first time EVER in our marathon training... just to get up the very last 1/4 of that dreaded hill.  WE'LL CONQUER THAT HILL YET!

During our run, we attempted to converse as usual (except while going up the steep hill, of course) and covered a variety of topics.  We talked about upcoming runs, about what to do when there's a "snow day" (like whether we should join a gym... blah!), and about some "real runner" friends' blogs that we've read recently.

The main topic of discussion that actually saw us through our run was sort-of silly.  We decided, based on absolutely no concrete facts, that probably we are better runners than approximately 2 billion people in the world.  A confident statement, but we estimated that figure based on all of the people in the world that think they can't run or don't run at all.  Maybe it's true??  Regardless, we kinda gave ourselves a confidence booster in considering our made-up statistic!

Day 22: Marathons = A Dime A Dozen

Today was another 3-mile run to grandma's house.  So since you all have read about other such runs numerous times, I'm going give you a quick rundown of today's conversation.  Not that it was anything overly enthralling, but you may find it interesting if you too are considering running a marathon in the near future...

Originally Athena had asked me if I would be interested in training for the Baltimore Marathon in October 2011.  After turning her down with a flat no, I later reconsidered, thinking that maybe a marathon would be possible if we have 10 whole months to train for it...

Presently we are following a 24-week-schedule that we'll finish up in May, so we have started looking into possible half-marathons or 5Ks that we could do in the spring.  Here are some we discussed today as we ran our 32 minutes...

5Ks:

Frozen Foot Series Elizabethtown, Lancaster, PA  (3 races, January-March) 

Half-Marathon:

Garden Spot Village Marathon Lancaster, PA (April 9th) 

Marathons:

Bob Potts Heritage Rail Trail Marathon York, PA (May 15th)

Baltimore Running Festival Baltimore  Baltimore, MD (October 15th)

Marine Corps Marathon Washington, D.C. (October 30th)

I'm wondering if any of you have any thoughts on the matter?  Perhaps you have some insight that we should know (i.e. - Baltimore marathon has lots of hills, etc), or can recommend another marathon we don't know about (i.e. Athena's friend who suggested the Marine Corps run). Thanks! 

Day 21: Six Miler

I bet you can't guess how far we ran today...

Yup, that's right... 6 miles!  :)

Kendra & I gathered two friends (her awesome sister Kari & our twice weekly running buddy, Ben), planted a car at each end of our planned course, and ran 6 miles on the Rail Trail from Grantley (mile marker 20) south to just before Gladfelter's Station (we stopped at mile marker 14 and walked the rest of the way to cool down).

Starting off, we had to deal with strong winds almost blowing us over as we ran straight into them.  It was tough (and freezing - literally!), but after a mile or two, either the winds subsided or we ceased to notice them.  We passed familiar milestones, especially looking forward to the mile markers as they passed:  the junkyard, the golf course, mile marker 19, the one-lane bridge, mile marker 18, the sewer plant (or whatever it is), mile marker 17, the stinky house, the rock cliffs, mile marker 16, the tunnel, mile marker 15, then finally the last mile!

I believe our time was something like 1 hour and 10 minutes, which satisfied us enough, especially considering this was Kendra's first time running more than 4 miles at a time!!  WAHOO!!!  :)

Side Note:  Ben enjoyed waving to cars that passed underneath the bridges we ran across.  He also made us celebrate with a "yeah" at each mile marker.  He put up with me constantly complaining about the seemingly quick & unsteady pace of our run.  He wins the encouragement award for the day.

Something to think about:  Kari mentioned that York hosts a marathon on the Rail Trail in May.  We are considering it.  It's a Boston Marathon qualifier (not that we'll ever be able to run it that quickly, but still - it's legit!).  We will keep you posted.

We forgot to video today.  We blame Kari because she had to leave right away.  Actually, Kendra blamed Kari.  I just forgot...

Day 20: No Tracking Today

This morning Athena and I found ourselves unexpectedly alone on our run (we missed you, Kate!).  We actually didn't realize this until we ran one time around the track.  It was then that I said, "Hey, we could run to grandma's today!"  Athena paused for 3 seconds, and as I held my breath, I could see her doing a mental breakdown of all the pros and cons to this idea.  When the 3 seconds where up she veered around and we headed off the track in a jog, on our way out!  Hallelujah, no tracking today!  (at least not much) 

So the run proved to be more challenging than I expected.  Apparently my body doesn't really like running 3 days in a row, even when it's not the track?  Athena seemed to do well, although we agreed that lots of muscles still hurt.  As we finally made it back to the cars (side note: touching the gold one makes our run officially over),  I made the mistake of putting my head down as I stretched.  Gravity wanted to bring up my supper from last night.  No really, I went without breakfast and lunch the rest of the day for fear it wouldn't stay down...and that's something I NEVER do.  Maybe I'm coming down with something.  Or my body is rejecting itself for putting it through this ridiculous running routine.  Dunno.

Hmm, so not only has the track lost it's charm, running is beginning to lose it's glamor as well.  I'm planning on being much more in shape and in love with exercising by the time spring rolls around, but for now, how can I? 

Today was about 3.1 miles in about 35 minutes.  

Posted by Kendra

Day 19: Still running...

Yup, that's right, folks!  We haven't given up yet, despite the cold and the constant tiredness & soreness!


We took a 3 mile run on the track at 5:30am this morning.  I'm not quite sure how quickly/slowly we ran it, though I imagine we averaged about 11 minute miles.  For some reason we weren't paying attention to our time...


Highlights of the run:  Ben joined and ran extra or faster or something (essentially he lapped us multiple times, as usual)... Kendra & I ran together (talking about wedding dresses)... Kate went around the track in the opposite direction, which meant we got to see her more often (and it also helped our miles seem to go by faster)!!!  :)


I have no wise observations or other thoughts from our run... it was just a run and, as far as I'm aware, neither Kendra nor I really enjoy running thus far... ha!  But it certainly makes it nicer when more friends join, so THANKS BEN & KATE!!!

Day 18: Running Resolutions

"Last year" we got spoiled by warm weather and sunshine... This year we were met by the harsh reality of early morning runs in the dark.....back on the track.  Perhaps someday we shall see the light of day again, but for this week, we must suffer through.  Today we weren't the only ones out running.  Per Athena's calculations, eight people took advantage of the track today.  Two boys/guys/men (it was dark ok?) lapped us several times...I'm sure it was because we left them have the inner two tracks.  Other exercisers included a walking pair, and then of course Athena, Kate, and I.  I can't remember who the eighth person was--Jesus?!


We couldn't help but think that these folks were kicking off the universal New Year's resolution to exercise and lose weight.  Let's see how many of them show up day after day on that track... Sorry, I'm a pessim--er--realist.  Any of you faithful readers hit the track to fulfill a particular resolution this year?  Do the marathon with us!  It's the only thing that's gonna keep you comin' back.  Believe me, I know. 


No more exciting news on this run.  We did 3 miles in 33minutes.  We hate the track.  We like running even less.  Yada yada.  : )


Posted by Kendra 

Day 17: New Year's Run!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!

Athena's Run:

What a great way to bring in the new year - with a long run!  Our marathon schedule says Kendra & I are to do 60 minutes of running on the last day of our 4th week, so that's what we planned!  Unfortunately for my running buddy... I'm currently away in North Carolina, visiting some family friends, so this was our first official run apart :(

I'm not disciplined enough to run on my own, so it took a lot of encouraging from family & friends to actually do a run at all.  I thought about having some of my family members join me for 15 minute running shifts and somehow almost talked my little sister into running the full distance with me, but those plans changed...

I ended up discovering that the state line between North and South Carolina wasn't too far away, so - without even knowing how far exactly - I headed out for my solo run to the state line.  Thankfully my future brother-in-law allowed me to borrow his iPod, which definitely made time go faster.  AND... I got to listen a very random mix of songs from Aladdin, Guster, Juliana Theory, Santana, etc.  Thanks, Mark!!  :)

My parents drove out to find me when I was somewhere around mile four.  I think Mom was concerned that I'd be out lost somewhere on unknown North Carolina roads... haha!  Anyway, they ended up driving past me a bunch of times to encourage me, which was helpful.  And three different times they passed me and informed me that I only had a mile to go... was I really going nowhere?!?  Anyway, they then parked at the state line in order to take me back home when I finished my run.

Dad clocked my run on the way back and found that I did 5.8 miles in 63 minutes, running all the way to South Carolina!  So it was just about an 11 minute mile for just about 6 miles.  I was pretty happy with the run and even felt pretty good about it.  I guess it helped that the weather was warm and the scenery was new and different (complete with dogs wanting to chase me, and horses coming over to their fences to see what was happening).  Plus, there were only 3 real hills to run up, so that wasn't too bad.

Check out the video that my mom took of me running!!  She was testing out her brand new digital camera... haha!

Kendra's Run:

Unfortunately I did not get  to run 60 minutes (or 63, like Athena) on New Year's day.  I hate to say I got to partying the night before, but it's kinda true.  We had a bunch of friends over for an all-nighter celebration...only sparkling grape juice, folks...  : )  But these were true friends because they agreed to run a short 2-miler with me, Kari and Amanda!  Wow!  So five of us ran, and here's the video to prove it... (better late than never, right?)