Timmy's big race yesterday, the only one he does now, because it is free for him....he scores well enough to qualify for the "elite".  He starts training on August 1st, no more beer, two trips to the gym every day, tries to eat less junk food, etc.  It is quite a sacrifice for an effort that lasted exactly one hour, 35 seconds - his time.  Coming in  84th  with over 1900 runners is quite an accomplishment.  The woman standing next to me at the finish line, saw Timmy, and said, "Here comes an old one."  And I told her that it was Timmy.  So he came in first in his age group, 65-69. 

The race to me is kind of like Christmas, all the preparation, all the shopping, the wrapping, the Christmas card list, the stockings to buy for, and then PUFF - it's all over, with just a bag full of ripped wrapping paper to burn.  And a feeling of relief.  And the race does remind me that Thanksgiving, and then Christmas is just around the corner.

We go to the awards ceremony that seems to take forever,. starting with female 15-19, male, 15-19, and on and on until he hits the 60's.  Vince runs the show, and actually got Timmy to run in it when he met Timmy at the Kingston Classic, and was looking for strong runners.  He yelled to Timmy at 7am when we got to Schenectady for the race, "Hello Mr. Haley" - that's the kind of guy he is, knows his runners and can tell a little about each of them.  So there was Timmy standing with the other two finishers, he was in the middle as the first one in, and pictures were being taken.  It looks like a lineup at the police station, and Timmy looks like the guilty one right in the middle.  An older woman (she had just won in the 65-59 age group) was sitting next to me, and I heard her say, "I like that Tim Haley".  Made me smile.  And Vince made a big deal of Timmy's time and saying how he runs every year and that he is from Tivoli. Nice way to finish up the race for the year.

So now on to the real Christmas.