Extended Memorial Weekend

While most people enjoyed a three day weekend, I was able to enjoy an extended holiday break. Let me start off with Monday. Leo and I decided that we wanted to go for a hike and enjoy the outdoors a little bit. So we headed over to the Greenbelt Trail HQ located in Blydenburg County Park. They were closed but we were able to scope out a day hike to do.

We hiked around Stump Lake, this is an easy 5 mile hike that took us 2 hours and thirty minutes but we did stop for a 45 minute lunch break on the lakes shore. It was a beautiful day, with not too many people in our way. We came across some horse and dog walkers but they were all friendly and well behaved(even the animals). The trails themselves are easy to navigate and are well maintained. They are also not very difficult to hike. Here are some of our photos from the stops.

Beach Front

@ A Stream Crossing

Same Stream Crossing Just A Different Angle

Leo Next to the Tree with a Giant Hole in it

After the hike on Monday we headed over to a friends house for some Basketball, Wiffle Ball and a BBQ. Great way to relax and end a nice day.

On Tuesday Michelle and Alyssa graduated from St. Joseph's College on LI and we went to the ceremony. Here is a brief video of how it went down.

I removed all the unnecessary speakers and other people from the ceremony. What took them 3 hours to do I cut down to 4 minutes. Congratulations again and good luck in the future!

With that Leo and I have another tripped planned this weekend. Boston for a track meet, it should be fun. I will keep you posted with how that goes. Later!!!

Boston May 15th 2010

This weekend Leonora and I traveled up to Boston for a Track event. Leo was running in the Boston Twilight Track Meet. We decided to make a trip out of it and stayed with our Friend Kevin aka Mango. He goes to Harvard and studies crazy science things. He was nice enough to take the weekend off and fit us into his busy schedule. Here are a few experts from the weekend.

Here we are on the Harvard University campus and this is a statue of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University. It is said to be good luck to rub his left foot. That is what we are doing in this photo. It is very weird because the statue is all weathered except his foot which is still a gold copper color. They say the oils from the human hand help preserve this portion of the statue.

After touring the campus a bit we went over to Harvard Square which is the center of Cambridge city. This is where all the doings were going on. They had street performers, vendors and homeless. There were shops to shop in and cafe's to eat in. All in all it was a pretty cool area.

After walking around we relaxed in apartment until it was time to head up for the race. I have attached a video of Leo's race. If you scan to 2 minutes 30 thats when the race starts.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

or you can have the abridge version here... She runs with some women for 2 laps and then leaves them in her wake. She runs a solo 9:22, laps a few girls and breaks the meet record by 4 seconds. All in all a good race.

We will be back in Boston in 3 weeks for another one of these meets. So you will get another update then. Until next time...

Happy New Year

Happy and Healthy New Year to All! Many of you know what I got up to New Year's Eve but here are some things to help you visualize it.

This is the bag of goodies that Leo won!

Leo and I on Fox News.

Article about Leo's Fantastic Race!!!

SMYTH AND DONOHUE WIN AT MIDNIGHT RUN
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

NEW YORK (31-Dec) -- With a mix of light snow and rain falling and a spectacular fireworks display lighting up the sky, Patrick Smyth and Erin Donohue won last night's 31st Emerald Nuts Midnight Run, a four mile road race in Central Park hosted by the New York Road Runners.

Smyth, 23, the former Notre Dame star who was third at last year's USA 10 mile championship, won convincingly over Olympic 5000m runner, Ian Dobson, 18:35 to 18:53. Ethiopia's Bado Worku Merdessa, who runs for the local West Side Runners team, finished third in 19:08.

Donohue, 26, an Olympian at 1500m, was the class of the women's field. Wearing a bright pink long sleeve top and a warm hat to ward off the cold, she covered the rolling four mile course in 21:22. That put her 20 seconds ahead of Leonora Joy-Petrina, a steeplechaser from New Zealand who lives in nearby Long Island. Toni Salucci, who competed for Cornell University as a collegian, finished third in 21:47.

Slippery conditions made it impossible for the men's and women's course records of 18:12 and 20:54 to be challenged.

About 5000 runners took part in the race, many wearing festive costumes.

Top Results:

MEN -
1. Patrick Smyth, 23, Minneapolis, MN (Nike) 18:35 $500 + 100i
2. Ian Dobson, 27, Portland, OR (adidas) 18:53 300 + 100i
3. Bado Worku Merdessa, Bronx, NY (ETH/WSX) 19:08 200
4. Sean Brosnan, 32, Lafayette, CA (Mizuno) 19:16
5. Harbert Okuti, 24, New Rochelle, NY (UGA/WTC) 19:22
i = Earned time bonus for sub-19:00

WOMEN -
1. Erin Donohue, 26, Haddonfield, NJ (Nike) 21:22 $500 + 100i
2. Leonora Joy-Petrina, 27, Bayport, NY (NZL) 21:42 300 + 100i
3. Toni Salucci, 24, Raleigh, NC (adidas Raleigh) 21:47 200 + 100i
4. Tanya Zeferjahn, 25, Charlotte, NC 21:48
5. Alissa McKaig, 23, Blowing Rock, NC (ZAP Fitness 21:50
i = Earned time bonus for sub-23:00 (limited to top-3 finishers)