FYI To the hoop fans who believe "Hal Lear" should have been "Hal Greer", Fran McCaffery said "Hal Lear." He was a Philly guy who helped Temple go to the Final Four in 1956. As one reader helpfully pointed out, Arizin was misspelled by me.
I'll still cover the race in some capacity, probably write a column and some notes and/or sidebar after I get done running. We always double-team it, so someone, probably Bob Weiner, will be there at the finish (way ahead of me).
I've covered the Corporate Challenge a few times on days when I also ran the race. Your story suffers for having missed seeing the winners come across the line, but I've found that runners are pretty good at describing what they just went through. Of course, the gap between me and the winners will be much greater after a 15k than it is after a 3.5-mile race.
Not to be picky, but it wasn't a sidewalk. The cement, though, was quite wet (and deep). And no, fearless is not correct. Let's just say that my left foot was dutifully following orders from the block of cement that kidnapped my cerebral cortex.
That's scary. Here's another good point: leave the iPod at home. I use it on the bikepath when I'm cycling, but not when I run.
You have to expect the unexpected. A few weeks ago, I'm running down Seward Place toward Union, almost done, and I get to South Avenue and step into the intersection well ahead of a big black pickup that's slowly braking up to a stop sign. He's looking left (at me), and I know he's not going anywhere because I can see and hear traffic coming both ways on Seward. Still, from a dead stop, he lets his foot off the brake and rolls about eight more totally unnecessary feet (it's impossible for him to even think about making a turn) through the stop sign right into my path. I was forced to stop abruptly right at the driver's side window, gave him my best scowl, and ran all the way around the back of the truck. It was so blatant I thought it might be a practical joke by someone I knew, but I didn't recognize the guy. Jerk.
It wasn't a dangerous situation, just a really annoying one, but it shows how you can't assume anything.
Posted on November 21 at 1:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
FYI To the hoop fans who believe "Hal Lear" should have been "Hal Greer", Fran McCaffery said "Hal Lear." He was a Philly guy who helped Temple go to the Final Four in 1956. As one reader helpfully pointed out, Arizin was misspelled by me.
On Philly feels like home to Saints