Big Weekend

It is going to be hot-hot-hot tonight, so think about choosing wisely on your choice of run. Unfortunately Mr. Mister is gone so it takes some of the utility away from our "super hot day contingency course" but seeking out more shade and staying closer to a source of water may be reasonable tonight? We'll see what the day holds at TRY time and discuss options then.

Speaking of TRY...a lot of you followed along and noticed this so I don't want to spend too much more time on it, but a flat out amazing moment in the history of TRY happened over the weekend. Something that might be a first of it's kind? Of course I'm talking about Ally actually posting on a TRYer related topic. She is alive! And still pays attention. Utterly outerworldly effort from her there. Congratulations Ally on your amazeballs achievement!

(That other big thing that happened will have to wait for a proper treatment since I don't think I can do it justice myself. I'm hoping one of the participants can provide the detail on what it was like to pay the "iron price".)

I can say that I was very impressed by the TRY support for the "IMLP". A few TRYers cheered things on directly and I know of a few others who followed along from home. That was really nice to see that support and concern on a summer Sunday.

Nothing fancy from me today - if you have not and have an interest - please go through the 300ish photos that have been posted in the last week. Mostly from Paige's and then some from the Boilermaker and the after-after party.

Coming up:
In about 2 1/2 weeks - on Friday, August 14th it's the yearly Lockheed Martin sponsored free Syracuse Chiefs baseball game. With informal tailgate before and entertaining fireworks afterwards. It's time to think about who wants in on that free event. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend (my little sis gets married the next day so I'll already be out of town) but I did grab some tickets and if that is not enough to distribute, I'm sure a TRYer from LM can grab more.

That's it...don't let your Popsicle melt today!

Snuck Away to PA

I must not be very good at reading calendars because my long planned vacation to the Pocono region in Pennsylvania somehow caught me off guard. Oops! I will not be around tonight. Please find a way to survive without me and my little distractions.

This week it is back to normal for TRY. The volatility of June and July is over and from tonight til the middle of November you can count on TRY being right where it should be in OLP. It looks like the storm threat should pass through in time to leave you with beautiful running conditions - mid 70s and partly cloudy. Enjoy!

Fleet Feet of Syracuse is running a promotion where they are asking where they should give some money under the name of "The Power of Running". They have taken votes to settle on three finalist and for the next 8 days you can vote to select the single winner. The finalists are Paige's Butterfly Run, Girl Scouts of NY Penn, Advocates Inc., of Syracuse. Obviously I have a favorite among those three, but vote for which ever one you would most like to support. (I naively wonder about the Girl Scouts entry...since contests like this are popularity contests...if that group truly is drawing in people from NY and Pennsylvania - then it has an unfair advantage and to me, and shouldn't be involved in this local vote. Oh well.) You can read the full write up on the vote or can skip directly to the voting page. Please vote! (I just did and it took about 20 seconds - name, email address, and choice is all it takes.)

I'm still working on TRY photos from PBR and the BM. I went through and grabbed 95% of our glimpses from the official event photographers and will upload those to Facebook next...I did not quite get all of them because it gets silly when you can just barely see us in the background. There are some other photos of friends of TRYers (like Janna's Jason) but there are limits to how much I want to squint while looking through over 2000 thumbnails. Full album is here where you can get larger format files if the ones I upload make you want a better version. For this post, here is the pre-race glamour shot of each team:







Wow, we all look GREAT.

Lastly, another thank you to "Jennifer" and her family for hosting the TRY night last Tuesday. It worked out perfectly and they were very generous with their "tours" of the grounds. (But I haven't noticed any photos yet...did anything get posted that I missed?)

Off Week

TRY is NOT meeting at OLP this week! We will be back to the park next week and through til the middle of November.

For one week, instead, it's the traditional celebration after the Utica Boilermaker week, this year being generously hosted at Chez Berman on Onondaga Hill. Hopefully all of you know this, if not, please check out the Facebook event for details. (If you care and it's not viewable for you, please let me know.) Join us as we "flush away the BM":




For anybody learning about this for the first time, you can still join in, just let me know to expect you and I'll make sure Berms' knows then too. We've had some cancellations so there should be plenty of food to go round if some people were caught by surprise.

There are a lot of picture updates coming. Tons of fun Paige's Butterfly Run photos taken by the event photographers and from our multi-talented band-on-the-run member Steve S. In an embarrassment of riches, I've been putting off posting them because I know it is going to take a couple hours just to collate them and get them put together nicely.

From the Boilermaker we have the traditional finish line area shots of Team Beefers already available through their links but I'll grab them and make an album just for us as well. Then within a couple days the event photos will be available.

With that in mind, I'm ending this post now and will promise all sorts of photo fun "soon". The exact version of soon will depend on my whim.

A Hot One

It is supposed to be a hot one today, at least for this year, so it's just in time to help us acclimate a little in case the Boilermaker ends up being on a warm day. (Forecast for Sunday right now is looking reasonable though.)

Tonight we will do the normal place and time for TRY. It sounds like Duerr has a hall-pass so watch out, Liverpool!

Next week we will do our traditional post Boilermaker fun night and NOT be at the park. Please help remind me to announce it tonight for the fringe TRYers who don't read the posts because they usually aren't relevant for them.

We have a couple first time Boilermaker runners in our midst this year, plus my sister needs some guidance so I'm going to clean up the "TRY Boilermaker Parking and Event Meetup Guide" and post that in the next day or two. (I have to double check things by reading through what the actual Boilermaker is telling us to do this year for packet pick-up.)

Next week heads up: We'll be meeting at Berms' parents house. Since it's a further drive for almost everyone, you'll have the option of arriving starting at 5, with the group-ish run starting at 6. They have lovely grounds and a nice in-ground pool, so it'll be a pool night afterwards for anyone that wants a refreshing dip and perhaps there will be lawn games? Early arrivals could do the pool while they wait for the run time as well? I'll post again next week and ask for a rough head count so the amount of food can be planned out.

For drink: Beer and beverages will be provided and anyone attempting to bring in more will be shot on sight. Seriously, don't even start in with the Bermans about the New York Safe Act...it will not end well for you. (They both have the words to the second amendment and various gun tattoos!)  You can bring a post run sports drink if you need to, but anything else is all set.

For food: Burgers and hot dogs and buns will be provided. We are asking that others help with sides or desserts. You can chime in on next weeks post with specifics to avoid repeats. Please note that not everyone has to bring something - so don't feel obligated. If a few people do stuff there should be enough and I know it can be hard to have certain things when coming to a gathering right after work. The point is to come out and have fun!