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December 22, 2011
It was drab, with temperatures around 50 as Tom Cali, John Domico, Bob Cornwall, Jim Moore, Lance Bland, Meira Minard, Marty Klanchar, Michael Goldfine, Jon Thurley, Paula Jech, Mark Fedkin, Katya Bazilevskaya, Natasha and Christina Fedkina, Andy Maguire, Dana Todd, John Wilcock, Mark Lee, Mike Renz, Rich Harter, Adam Smith, Dean Capone, Frank Rodenbaugh, Rob Peterson, and Marty Mazur all showed up for one of the mildest Thursday Track Jingle Bell runs on record. Bwanita, wary of scandal weary State College, decided to hunker down with some Singapore-bound pirates in a hidden bay in Borneo.
The Crew first ran their traditional Look Back on Last Year. All the runners did their best to keep from falling over each other as they jogged backwards around the track. Even little Christina Fedkina made it, though it took her longer because she was reviewing about half her life! Then they did the Look Forward to Next Year by running forward once around. That's a weird feeling after the quarter-mile of backwards running! Then it was off to downtown.
A few of the speedsters got a little ahead of the gang, but waited at the big steps at South Halls. Meira initiated a new tradition by leading a run all the way up the steps, then showed us all why Her Hynerness is the Trail Queen of the Mid-Atlantic by sprinting at breakneck speed DOWN the steps! Next we took off up College Avenue for our stop at Rapid Transit. This year's calendar put the Jingle Bell Run a little later than usual, and downtown (including Terry's store) was relatively dead. But Rapid Transit welcomed us as we jogged the aisles. Next, off to Kitchen Kaboodle where Jeannie Klanchar had minor heart palpitations. Kitchen ware is a little more fragile than stacks of athletic wear! After Tom Cali ordered pizza for the Rec Hall equipment room (and the runners), the Crew took off for the top of the new parking deck on Beaver and Fraser. It's a great view of Mount Nittany up there!
Here's our route. The map is missing our backwards run at the track (I didn't want to confuse Garmin):
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135893652
And here are some photos from this year's run:
http://www.flickr.com//photos/13896088@N00/sets/72157628541072797/show/
Bwana hopes all have a Merry Christmas, and a healthy and fast New Year!
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