Hope Oregon Likes Me

Me, jumping for joy

I'll just shut up and say it (in caps so you get the gist):

I WON THE CONTEST!!

I will be going on an all expense trip to Oregon (Aug 27-29) to run on a Strands sponsored team in the Hood to Coast Relay.

I'm not sure why Strands chose me. Maybe it was my boobs (but, oh so small - a handful at the most). Or the fact that sometimes I crap myself while running. Maybe my entry - my goofy poem - was just all that good. Or more likely, they didn't have that many entries. But you know what? I don't care because I get to go on this trip and to run in my first relay with strangers and beer. Check out http://www.hoodtocoast.com/movie.html for a pretty cool video view into the event.

I suppose I should be kind of concerned that it is 197 miles, starts at the top of Mt. Hood, runs through Portland and down to the coast. It requires me to run 3-4 legs of the race. Maybe it should bother me that we run all day and all night and that I will be in a van for vast amounts of time with 11 team mates who I don't know. Maybe I should worry that I'll be the slowest, the dorkiest, the smelliest and/or the weirdest.

But you know what? I don't give a shit!! I am going on an adventure into the unknown world of relays and Oregon-people. At my age (42) it's all about keeping the fire burning and the risk alive so that I don't settle into some mundane and apathetic suburban lifestyle where my world becomes smaller and smaller and where fear starts to rule over shutting up and running. How'd you dig that run on sentence?

So, THANK YOU, everyone who signed up on Strands to support me. You guys are the best and I'm convinced that you all helped me win this thing!!

Oh, and as promised, there will be some killer blog entries and hopefully some body shots (not body shots as in putting salt on my body parts and getting it licked off by some stranger chugging tequila), but photos. Those are for you Vanilla and Jamoosh.