Weather Or Not…

by admin on October 21, 2008

Running is not for sissies. We run no matter how much sleep we got the night before, no matter what hurts, no matter who comes along. We run no matter what. Weather is no exception. We run in rain, cold, heat, sun, dark, wind, sleet (even hail, but not lightening.) We train in bad weather so when we face bad weather in a race we can tell ourselves, “I’ve run in worse.”

Luckily, sometimes we get to race in better weather than we train in. That is why we love fall marathons. Train in the heat, run in the cool. The weather in DC is shaping up nicely…

Now if that rain would just slip over onto Sunday….

Pirañas Invade DC

by admin on October 19, 2008

The Pirañas will be heading to Washington DC on Thursday to run in the 33rd Annual Marine Corps Marathon.

Attending will be T3, Mav, Obi and Samsonite. The Pirañas are representing the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon at the Expo on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and attending the Race Directors Boot Camp on Saturday. Sunday they will all run! The Pirañas will be posting to the blog throughout the weekend, so stay tuned for updates.

Big Daddy’s

by admin on October 17, 2008

If you ever go to Grapevine, TX on vacation you may want to remember that it is in the middle of a dry county. Now, by dry, apparently they mean no liquor stores, cause you can get a cocktail at any restaurant in town. But you can’t buy a bottle. That’s ok though, because all you have to do is drive to the Dallas County line on the Northwest Highway and you will be rewarded with a veritable Super Store Heaven of Liquor Stores.

This is just one of several gianormous stores that are waiting for you mere feet across the county line. Ain’t life grand!

RAW Run

by admin on October 16, 2008

Since Thursday morning found Brother T3 in Grapevine, TX, he went looking for a run. Lucky for him the Great Wolf Lodge is located close to Grapevine Lake which is home to the Grapevine Runners And Walkers and a nice trail system.

T3 headed out on the well marked and scenic trails and got a good run in.

T3 ended up running some of the west course and some of the east course and passed by the “club house” in the middle.

A Banana That Was Happy to See Me

by admin on October 15, 2008

Piraña T3 and family are taking a break from the rat race and training and are headed down to Grapevine TX to spend a few days at the Great Wolf Lodge and Water Park. On the way down the crew stopped in the big town of Ardmore, OK to eat at a place called Two Frogs. As they left the restaurant they spotted a young man dressed as a banana. When T3 asked why, Houston said, “it is Wednesday night and I was bored.”

It must be really exciting to live in a small town! BTW, the handsome young man in the pic is Preston, one of T3’s 6 kids.

We Call Him “McLuvin”

by admin on October 14, 2008

Well, we have a new addition to the Pirañas. Actually, not a new addition, just a new classification. P.I.T. (Piraña In Training) McLuvin was on the short list from early on, but had not completed the requisite distance runs necessary to earn him Brotherhood. After his valiant and superior service to Brothers Big, Mav and T3 at the Heartland 50, it was decided that he should begin his trials.

Here is McLuvin after the 2003 Pike’s Peak Ascent:

P.I.T. McLuvin began his running career after becoming an accomplished walker. Yes that is correct! After 42 years of walking to get from point A to point B, McLuvin realized that running will get you there faster. So in 2002 McLuvin began running the local trails in the OKC area. This led to trail running events in Oklahoma, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas. McLuvin enjoys running events such as Pikes Peak, Palo Duro Canyon, Lake McMurtry, The Dan Man, Oklahoma City Memorial, World Run Day etc…

McLuvin also enjoys giving back to the running community. He offers assistance to many local race events, acts as Assistant Race Director and Logistics Coordinator for the Oklahoma Redman Triathlon, and is President of OTRA.

Samsonite Clocks Sub Seven 50

by admin on October 13, 2008

While some of the Pirañas were in Kansas getting Big his first 50 miler, Brother Samsonite was in central Pennsylvania’s striking Rothrock State Forest during peak foliage season running the Tussey Mountainback 50 miler.

The race started at 7:00 am and our man was ready to go. As he was heard to say, “Beautiful day, beautiful Pennsylvania countryside. Awesome event!”

Cruising through the countryside he made his way through Whipple Dam State Park, Alan Seeger Natural Area, Penn Roosevelt State Park, Colyer Lake and Bear Meadows Natural Area. Total Elevation gain: 5,035 ft.

The stats:

26.2 at 3:15
50K at 3:55
50 miles at 6:56!

This is the 9th year for this event, and Samsonite’s time would have won the race 6 of the previous 8 years. In the history of the course, 18 of 300 finishing times have been below 7 hours!

Go Pirañas!

Pass the Weak, Hurdle the Dead, Take All You Can, Give Nothing Back