YDH (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} adamopoulos) wrote,@ 2006-09-04 21:17:00 |
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Just a fun story
I would like to take a break from shamelessly self-promoting to talk about this past Sunday, where my good friend Al participated in the Rock N' Roll Half Marathon at Virginia Beach. Now, for those of you who don't already know, if you looked at Al about a year ago, you would have never seen this guy running in a 1/20th of a marathon, let alone a half. Over the past year he has proceeded to get himself into ridiculously good shape by working his ass off in the gym and running, and the difference in his appearance is like night and day (might be a bad analogy as he is still black). So, even though he has downplayed it to an extent to others, we all knew how big of an accomplishment this was and how him running in the marathon was a big deal for him.
So...
While it's by no means close to where I live (about 3.5 hours or so), I thought it would be a good idea to surprise him by showing up at the finish line at Virginia Beach. I made the assumption that Roy had absolutely nothing to do, which was correct (surprise surprise!), and decided to bring him along. Our friend Matt in Richmond also wanted to go, so it was decided that on Saturday night, Roy and I would drive down to Richmond and stay at Matt's, thus cutting out an hour and a half from the drive to VA Beach in the morning.
So Roy and I head down to Matt's. Since the race starts a 7am, we decided that we needed to hit the road by no later than 6:30am, so that we could get there by 9, and that would give us enough time to find our way to the finish line before Al crosses. The plan was for Matt to set his alarm and wake everyone up.
I get woken up by Roy at 7:30am. I am furious.
"MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
We wake him up. The doofus slept through his alarm! We pile into Matt's car, and I silently sat in the front seat. I am pissed because it's early and I am awake and there was such a slim to none chance of us being able to make it to the finish line to see Al finish. So, I cut the other two a break from having to contend with an irritated Adam, and go back to sleep in the car. I wake up later with the car coming to a stop. I am a bit dazed. What's going on? Are we here? Nope, Matt got pulled over and was issued a citation. So now I am pissed that I can no longer be pissed at Matt because he just got a ticket and that sucks. Ugh.
We finally get to the beach. Roy and I got out of the car to hurry and try to find the finish line. I am about ten feet ahead of Roy, and trip on part of the sidewalk, temporarily losing my balance. I didn't take a spill, but it was noticeable. Still generally annoyed, I entertained the possibility of Roy laughing at this, and how I would get away with ending his life in broad daylight in front of so many people. Fortunately, he managed not to laugh...at least audibly.
Matt finds us, and we haul ass to the boardwalk to where to the finish line was. There were thousands of people out there, and I thought that he had already passed, and even if he hadn't, there would be no way we would be able to find him in this sea of runners.
Just as the above thought crossed my mind, I hear Matt call my name and point...there he was! I call out his name and he spots us. The look of surprise on his face made the whole trip worthwhile. He was totally pumped and finished the race strong.
We then went to the beach, followed by a bar that featured a foosball table. Fear not, I proved that even with only 9 functioning fingers, I am still the champion foosball player of the world, winning about 15 games in a row, while talking much trash and entertaining/annoying other bar patrons with my loud and obnoxious comments. We drank a decent amount and called it an evening. It was a great time.
Congratulations again to our friend Al. We are really proud of you.
-YDH
I would like to take a break from shamelessly self-promoting to talk about this past Sunday, where my good friend Al participated in the Rock N' Roll Half Marathon at Virginia Beach. Now, for those of you who don't already know, if you looked at Al about a year ago, you would have never seen this guy running in a 1/20th of a marathon, let alone a half. Over the past year he has proceeded to get himself into ridiculously good shape by working his ass off in the gym and running, and the difference in his appearance is like night and day (might be a bad analogy as he is still black). So, even though he has downplayed it to an extent to others, we all knew how big of an accomplishment this was and how him running in the marathon was a big deal for him.
So...
While it's by no means close to where I live (about 3.5 hours or so), I thought it would be a good idea to surprise him by showing up at the finish line at Virginia Beach. I made the assumption that Roy had absolutely nothing to do, which was correct (surprise surprise!), and decided to bring him along. Our friend Matt in Richmond also wanted to go, so it was decided that on Saturday night, Roy and I would drive down to Richmond and stay at Matt's, thus cutting out an hour and a half from the drive to VA Beach in the morning.
So Roy and I head down to Matt's. Since the race starts a 7am, we decided that we needed to hit the road by no later than 6:30am, so that we could get there by 9, and that would give us enough time to find our way to the finish line before Al crosses. The plan was for Matt to set his alarm and wake everyone up.
I get woken up by Roy at 7:30am. I am furious.
"MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
We wake him up. The doofus slept through his alarm! We pile into Matt's car, and I silently sat in the front seat. I am pissed because it's early and I am awake and there was such a slim to none chance of us being able to make it to the finish line to see Al finish. So, I cut the other two a break from having to contend with an irritated Adam, and go back to sleep in the car. I wake up later with the car coming to a stop. I am a bit dazed. What's going on? Are we here? Nope, Matt got pulled over and was issued a citation. So now I am pissed that I can no longer be pissed at Matt because he just got a ticket and that sucks. Ugh.
We finally get to the beach. Roy and I got out of the car to hurry and try to find the finish line. I am about ten feet ahead of Roy, and trip on part of the sidewalk, temporarily losing my balance. I didn't take a spill, but it was noticeable. Still generally annoyed, I entertained the possibility of Roy laughing at this, and how I would get away with ending his life in broad daylight in front of so many people. Fortunately, he managed not to laugh...at least audibly.
Matt finds us, and we haul ass to the boardwalk to where to the finish line was. There were thousands of people out there, and I thought that he had already passed, and even if he hadn't, there would be no way we would be able to find him in this sea of runners.
Just as the above thought crossed my mind, I hear Matt call my name and point...there he was! I call out his name and he spots us. The look of surprise on his face made the whole trip worthwhile. He was totally pumped and finished the race strong.
We then went to the beach, followed by a bar that featured a foosball table. Fear not, I proved that even with only 9 functioning fingers, I am still the champion foosball player of the world, winning about 15 games in a row, while talking much trash and entertaining/annoying other bar patrons with my loud and obnoxious comments. We drank a decent amount and called it an evening. It was a great time.
Congratulations again to our friend Al. We are really proud of you.
-YDH
