Sometimes anticipation ruins a long nite’s sleep. Rock ‘n Roll day! my first RnR event since 2015. Host hotel registered. Could see the African elites stretching outside…12 flights down. 85 & sunny this afternoon – in Montréal – closest I’d see elite athletes today. Slow, steady, hydrate.
Walk, walk, walk. Long way to my corral start. Either goofed the kilometer-mile conversion again, or gonna see thousands break the 3:15 marathon barrier. LOL> Back-of-the-pack. Walk, walk, walk. Faaaaaaar in the distance, could almost sound out the O’ Canada theme 🇨🇦
And we’d wait. And wait. 9 o’clock now. Temps warming. My corral peeps sitting on pavement. Still, lotta buzz. Runner chatter. Mix of Québécois & Toronto Anglo. Marathon day in Québec!
FIREWORKS. Voulez-vous, qu’est-ce que c’est, vive la France – & we’re off.
An hour of dodge-n-weave (no hatin’ on walkers, honest). Few mind-numbing suburbia/bike-path out-n-backs after the Halfer split – but overall, Rock ‘n Roll does a good job showcasing city sights.
Day fave? Olympic Park. Outskirts of Montréal, 1976-dated & I get crazy emotional.
Indoor Stadium ran. Olympic rings decaled near the big screen. Allez, allez, Keenan, allez. Très bon. Energy from the experience overwhelming/tear-welling. Allez, allez, Keenan, allez.
Walked part of 19. Heat struggled last 10k. Post-noon, no food & crazy humid. More fluids spewing out than going in. New PW finish time for Canada – but a FINISH & a medal. Très bon! 🏅
$20 shower negotiated at my hotel, taxi to the airport. Crazy quick turnaround.
Monday work-day, passport-readied again. Family vacation with Sis – to AUSTRIA! #noregretlife
Oasis Rock ‘n’ Roll Montreal Marathon
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Bib Name Time
22166 Keenan Haga 05:16:52
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- FIREWORKS Start
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- heat-struggled last 10K
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- Parc Olympique
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- fire engine COOLDOWN
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- 6th weekend marathoning
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- push PUSH push
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- Vive le Montréal
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- Canada Quest 2020
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- Saturday EXPO
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- 1500 miles away: DISCO DEADLIFT @ Bro’s gym
Roll ‘n Roll Montréal
Marriage. Babies. First home.
Family vacations. Family funerals. Kid graduations. Father of the Bride. Retirement.
Stages we share with friends – BESTIES whom we closely confide, share laughter, life events, our ups & downs.
First to RETIRE. Stephen. Thirty years of bosses, budgets, job titles, office changes, annual reviews, Thursday pints-after-work – then blink, it’s all over. Luckily, I’m at the tail-end of my peer group. August birthday, last to turn 18. Trend’s continued whole life.
When am I old enough to buy a house? When should I be getting married? Decisions seemed so ‘grown-up’ – then somehow, one day – YOU’RE the grown-up, YOU’RE the uncle, YOU’RE the one sending cash on birthdays & graduations. Time warp.
Stephen’s party started my own wheels turning. Retirement. What will MY next chapter look like? What’s after retirement? And when? 10 years, 15 years?
Luckily, notta question for Stephen. Guy’s been FILLING his dance card. Candlepin bowling. Community chorus. Crafty to-do project I’ve been vowed to secrecy – AND a role in this year’s Palm Sunday celebration: ‘Jesus the Dreamer’ at South Church in Concord. Name printed in the program & everything. Completely legit.
Retirement reflection. Step ONE. Pay off the house. FIVE years.
Think it, dream it, say it out loud (and hopefully, win the lottery – HA!)
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- Welcome to New Hampshire
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- South Church, Concord
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- Jesus the Dreamer ♫
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- love as HE did †
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- Sanctus Deus
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- candlepin BOWLING 🎳
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- no spare, no strike – tough, unforgiving new sport
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- first CONE of 2019
Retirement Lunch
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- Concord’s Common Man
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- CONGRATS! 🎉
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- Ashley & Dan
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- cousin Patricia
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- Cobb salad 🍴
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- first to RETIRE
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- SIBLINGS 👪
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- Joanna & Harding
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- Schofield Clan ❤️
‘Jesus the Dreamer’
Saturday non-marathon plans? Colorado Mammoth vs San Diego Seals.
Black Friday (Nov 2018) promo, ticket price $3.03 (keeping with the month’s 3-0-3 theme). For only $3, who wouldn’t want to see your first Lacrosse match?
MY version: Fast-paced mix of soccer & hockey. Music blared & the game moved crazy quick. 60 minutes total, four 15-minute quarters. Up ‘n down the field; a baseball-sized object tossed player-to-player via hand-held sticks w/ nets.
If you don’t pass [the lacrosse ball] quick enough, expect to be tackled/checked or high-stick’d by the opposing Team. Want the official rules? No idea. Google 🙂
Pepsi Center, fan FILLED. More attendance than an MLS game (go Rapids), even rivaled numbers watching our playoff-bound Denver Nuggets.
Why? The game is crazy FUN – and the pace FAST. Baseball execs, take a second look. LOVE LOVED the physicality of lacrosse. Cool factor HIGH. Fans skew young & bring a hockey anger. Even the Mammoth cheerleaders outshined the NBA Nuggets squad.
Tonite. Game of two very different halves – all San Diego, all Colorado. Ultimately, Seals held for the W, local Mammoth denied.
Would I go back? Absolutely! Go Mammoth!
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- Denver’s Pepsi Center
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- National Lacrosse League
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- fast-paced mix of soccer & hockey
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- Go Mammoth!
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- G-O-A-L 🐘
Colorado Mammoth
Mammoth Draw Crowd of 15,951 on Colorado Night
Colorado drew a Mammoth of a crowd, 15,951 fans, to Pepsi Center on Saturday night for their annual Colorado game. To celebrate the Centennial State, the Mammoth debuted their new Colorado-themed jerseys and brought in local band, Raising Cain, to serenade raucous fans to the sounds of Colorado.
The Mammoth dropped Saturday’s decision to the San Diego Seals 13-10.
By 12:08 in the third quarter, Mammoth were down 10-5, but then they surged. A three-goal run featuring Eli McLaughlin, Ryan Lee and Jeff Wittig brought Colorado within two tallies, 10-8, early in the fourth quarter. Though Colorado’s uptick in energy remained through the end of the game, the Mammoth could not complete their comeback, as back-and-forth action favored the Seals…
