This is why we do it!

Triumphant.JPG
Originally uploaded by Mark Rutley.

Race day. The morning began at 0500 hrs (Oh my Gawd, that's early!). We rolled out of bed, drank our coffee and had our wheaties, then headed down to the race venue with our pit crew (Mom, Mary and Kim). There were 10,000 runners at the starting line! We spent much of the pre-race warm up time waiting for a porta-potty.

Business complete, a cheer went up and we were off! 22.1 km later the result is here. We were both shooting for a sub-2 hour time. Alas, it was not to be. Still Cindy managed a 02:07 min time and I pulled out a 02:05 min time. All in all a good run.

Beat the Morning Commute

Beat the morning commute
Originally uploaded by Mark Rutley.

Tired of your morning/evening commute? Feel you're spending too much time in stop-and-go traffic that only lives up to half of its name? Is the irony of "rush hour" depressing you? Then get a CF-5 and make your commute fun again! :)

Why are we doing this again?

As most of you know, Cin and I are abusing our bodies this Sunday, 24 Sept in the Toronto Waterfront ½ Marathon.  It’s an early start.  The race begins at 0700 hrs (can I get enough coffee into my system by then?).  ½ marathon front-runners are expected to finish at 0800, right behind The Flash (Faster than 10 fast men!).  Cin and I hope to come in sometime around 0900 hrs.  There’s going to be some big names at this marathon/½ marathon including; Simon Bor – fastest Kenyan in the race; the Joggler – a guy who runs the entire marathon while juggling(!); and Ed Whitlock, a 74 year old who can run a marathon in a little over 3 hours.  Here’s a map and elevation of the race venue.  Also there’s official “Oasis Neighbourhood Challenge” entertainment/cheering sites along the route where spectators can be entertained as they watch or await the runners.

 

So if you’d like to come out, cheer us on, and have some fun.  Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

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HTML Test. Google

Further to my last..

Some more details on the blurry Avro Arrow pic in the previous post. The aircraft is a full sized replica at the Toronto Aerospace Museum and was built by 140 volunteers over the last 8 years. It is an exact replica of one of the Arrows and will be available for public viewing on 8 Oct. I’ve walked past this thing and saw it up close during one of my commutes from work. It’s a truly impressive replica which does the builders proud. Here's a press release on the subject.

Avro Arrow Lives Again

Avro Arrow Lives Again
Originally uploaded by Mark Rutley.

The Avro Arrow is a landmark in Canadian history - either famous or infamous depending on the version of history you subscribe to. Regardless a mock-up of this most magnificent of Canadian interceptors has just been rolled out of it's hanger across the airfield from me. What a beautiful machine!

Poor photo, I know. I'll see if I can get a better one on the way home.

Test Successful!

Flowers from our Garden
Originally uploaded by Mark Rutley.

So. It's been a while. Never was very good at that whole "persistence" thing. I've got about 15 stories - great ideas all - 3/4 finished.

Now however, I've got a new trick up my sleave. I can send photos from my new nokia, via bluetooth to my Tapwave Zodiac, edit an email in Snappermail, attach the photo, send the email back out through the Nokia to flickr, and on to my blog. Complete with text. I agree, it's a rather cumbersome method, especially considering the somewhat ubiquitousness of computers and wifi hotspots in Canada. But I've recently suffered through the demise (AGAIN!) of my so-called "hardened" tablet PC (a Hammerhead XRT) and so am resorting to the much more durable, and eminantly more portable, Zod/Phone combination.

Plus with my data plan from Fido, no matter where I am in the world (and I do travel a fair bit) I can continue to post either text or photos to this blog as I see fit.

So, the inaugaral post - some beautiful flowers from the garden of my wife and a enduring wish for increased patience on behalf of civilizations everywhere.

-M