Today was the annual Snowflake Shuffle which is put on by and a fundraiser for the College of Saint Benedict Track and CC programs. This year boasted a new course and a new place to meet up and have awards. The college opened a new facility last spring for softball and soccer complete with turf fields. The building in that area with locker rooms, concessions and meeting rooms was a very convenient spot for the race. The new course has a lot of turns which was not too favorable with the current conditions of icy patches from a recent snowfall but was overall a nice course with almost no traffic. The past course ran through downtown St. Joseph and it always seemed like the local police department did not like trying to keep track of the runners amongst parked and moving cars on the only busy street in town. However, it is always good to maintain a good relationship with local law enforcement, so the new course probably helped with that. Even with taking turns cautiously to avoid ice, I managed to finish in an average of just under 8:00 per mile. I was satisfied with my effort. There were around 180 finishers in the race and I was 34th overall and 11th female. Apparently the 40-somethings were the speedy gals today as I was 4th in my age group. The race has a holiday theme with many people wearing holiday clothing and lots of Christmas music along the way. I had an Elf t-shirt on, but while warming up decided it was too cold and kept my jacket on for the race. Once I got going, I kind of wished I'd have skipped the jacket, but wasn't warm beyond comfort. After the race, normally I would have dashed right home, but with our current status as empty-nesters, I went into St.Cloud to run an errand and attend an event at the local quilt shop. While out and about, I had two incidents that reminded me of the old Christmas favorite show...Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. First I stopped to make a return. One of the customer service workers was a little person. She and the gal who was assisting me were chatting a bit and the first woman mentioned, "I have to leave right away at noon to become a dentist!" I'll admit that I had stumbled on the right answer, but wouldn't say out loud, "Are you going to dress like Hermey the Elf?!?" That could have gone really bad if I'd have been wrong. I played dumb and she explained that she would be playing an elf with Santa that afternoon just like Hermey. I always loved Hermey who wasn't afraid to pursue his true interests even when something else was expected. He understood the troubles of the other characters who had more obvious characteristics that made them different such as the Misfit Toys. Soon after I left the store, I got a phone call that also reminded me of Rudolph. Blake called to report that he and David had been out fishing in Duluth when their ice sheet broke loose and they floated off along with 34 other fishermen. They were rescued by Duluth Fire Department and everyone got back safely without even loosing their gear. Since everyone got back safely, I could chuckle a little at thinking about another TV character, Yukon Cornelious. A million thank you's to the Duluth Fire and Police departments for saving my boys!!! Do you have a favorite Christmas movie or character? In addition to Hermey and Yukon, I liked the Bumble who was only mean because of dental pain and the snowman who sings so lovely and can move about with no feet...perhaps I like them all! The scene from the show that I would NOT like a reminder of in real life is when Yukon claims the Bumble bounces--I don't bounce. Happy running! Missee
1 Comment
Stephanie
12/2/2018 07:53:11 pm
I always liked the Professor Hinkle in Frosty the Snowman. "Busy! Busy! Busy:"
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AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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