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Written by Bwana Bwana

July 3, 2014

A new summer tradition was instituted by some of the Rec Hall Regulars a couple of years ago and this year Bwana threw Thursday Track’s hat in with that group. On the day before the 4th, runners meet at Rec Hall and do an easy paced run, stopping at a few of the Regulars’ homes along the way for some cooling refreshment, and winding their way to the West Side Stadium on W. College Avenue for a long, late lunch. Then they meander, or stagger, back to Rec Hall. This year Tom Cali, John Domico, Costas Maranas, Mike Zimmerman, Mike Renz, Andy Maguire, Mike Weyendt, Mike Martin, Adam Ilgen, Sara Noss, Tara Murray, Kathy Koetje-Simin, Jaimie Wright, Tim Bracken, and Marty Mazur were among the wanderers. 

The Crew set off at a slow pave with John Domico pedaling along on a bike, sitting on his new hip. First stop was at Andy Maguire’s front porch on Gill St., where Andy had parked a cooler. It didn’t take much in the way of refreshment to make the sharp little hill on Gill south of Andy’s to seem less daunting. But the sun was getting hotter, and the humidity higher as the Crew wound their way on the bike path to the next stop, Tom Cali’s on Sheller’s Bend. By then the sun was in full blaze and more than refreshment would soon be needed. Some shade, please. So the group decided to skip Bwana’s house and head straight for the West Side Stadium. We sat outside under an awning and quickly forgot about the sun. And it forgot about us, as a strong thunderstorm moved through toward the end of lunch, spraying rain under our shelter!

The Pre-4th Run is a great tradition that follows the fourth around on the weekly calendar. Thursday Track may not be lucky enough to coincide with (and get canceled by) that run for a few years. So next year, we can do both! Regular workouts resume on July 10.