Party Like a Roadrunner

Last night I went to a celebration. I really needed it with some things that have gone on lately and also just thinking about all the anniversaries of last year's issues that kept coming to mind.

The LA Roadrunners held a dinner and celebration at the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium. It was my first time in the Stadium Club and it was nice! Lots of Dodgers memorabilia, which appealed to me as a Dodgers fan, and a great view overlooking the field and stadium.

I arrived and soon saw Alan, my senior pace leader from Group 7. I wandered about and found the tables reserved for Group 7, which were also in use by my other group, Group 8! So, a nice connection, at least for me. Next I saw several of the Group 8 paceleaders, Laura, Wendy and Jessica. It was almost like the very first week, just I was dressed a tad differently.

Not many of Group 7 ended up coming, though Mitch was there and we had a good chat. All of the Lucky 7 paceleaders were ... Randy, Joan, Rita and Dave. Joan was really nice and we were comparing post-race injury status.

The Groups 7/8 tables ended up kind of in a corner with what a stadium ticket would call a "restructed view." Perhaps this was the result of Group 7's legendary ability to do things like get lost, blow through starting lines, etc.?

It was nice seeing people dressed up and wearing their medals and each chair also had an interesting bear decked out in Roadrunners gear and a medal! (Hey, I thought you had to run the 26.2 to medal ...).

What was interesting to me as ex-track was the attitude. People seem relaxed and friendly. No questions about what was your time; it was more kind of a group congratulations for making it.

The dinner was pretty good (even moreso since I did not cook). During the dinner they showed the marathon broadcast tape as well as a slide show of scenes from throughout training. In some ways they both seem like yesterday and in some ways they seem so long ago. In fact the training was a good chunk of time!

I ended up at the same table as Laura and Wendy and chatted some. I was a bit quieter than normal; I guess it was being tired and just normal take-it-all-in personality assuming the lead. Wendy was saying how she felt after her first marathon and gave some ideas. Laura talked about "that article," which I guess got more attention than I thought or ever expected

They had some presentations recognizing the executive board, the coaches, the paceleaders, and the vital water station volunteers.

We also got to hear and take part in an extended version of the LA Roadrunners cadence from Leroy, which was cool.

Afterwards, the DJ started playing music and people were dancing. It actually seemed pretty good. Lady Gaga was one. The Gap Band's "You Dropped A Bomb On Me." Swing stuff. Then a shock ... "Sauve" ... a song I have come to know quite well at St. Anne's dances. It was pretty interesting seeing all these people, well most of them, who had been out there early on Saturdays coming out to chill and enjoy themselves.

At that point it was a bit hard. Guess I was thinking about one of the other mini-disasters from March 2009 when I got dumped amidst all the other events. Hopefully, that will change one of these days as well; if I can run a bloody marathon, I can find a novia to last, right?

I ended up leaving a tad early. With work looming and the rain coming, and no novia yet, I just thought it was time.

Anyways, now I know what to do after the Los Angeles Marathon next year ...