A couple of years ago, when I ran my first and likely last Johnny Miles event (the 5K, and I mostly walked), I thought it was nice that people who live along the route sat outside on lawn chairs and cheered on the runners as they passed by.
It’s one of the neat little things about the event, which is now in its 43rd year. Another nice thing about it: the final couple hundred yards are all downhill until you reach the finish line, which is, according to me, absolutely the best thing about the entire experience: finishing it.
Local runner and cancer survivor Wanda McKenna said this week that she likes being part of something “that is bigger than myself.”
Who finishes where and in how much time hardly matters at all, it’s really about the little victories that each runner experiences, and the sense of community spirit that you can actually feel. No one out there on Sunday morning will be running alone.
Non-Sports Thoughts of the Week:
• Since it’s Father’s Day weekend, it’s high time we celebrated man-ness. Because if us guys don’t, no one else is going to.
We build things such as bridges and septic systems, civilizations (where the discourse is mostly civil, or at least it was, until social media was invented) and electric guitars like a Les Paul, which is heavy with plenty of muscle.
Sometimes we feel that we must destroy those things, but only if it’s enemy infrastructure in a time of war, or, when the concert is over and we want to light the guitar on fire on stage because it looks cool.
• Other people who aren’t men sometimes say they want to be thought of as equal, until it’s time to shovel out the driveway or replace the shingles on the roof. At which point, it becomes a ‘man’s job.’
To be honest, that’s not always true – I know some women who do shovel the snow, and who will in fact scurry up a ladder to do some repairs. Just not very many of them.
And to be even more honest, I wouldn’t re-shingle a roof, either – that’s a job for another guy.
• I like that most of my good friends are good fathers because I really don’t understand those who aren’t. It can’t be a good feeling to reach middle age and look back and say, ‘Geez, I was a lousy father.’
• A shrewd greeting card company in England has come up with something new this year for Father’s Day: greeting cards for single moms. (Subhead: The cards ensure that no one feels left out on Father's Day!)
So, we can assume that next year on Mother’s Day, there will be greetings cards for single dads, right? Because we all know a single dad, or a dad who is shouldering the heavy load while Mother plays around on Facebook all day and night.
• Things to do on Father’s Day if you’ve been a solid dad and your kids aren’t showing you the proper gratitude: sign up for one of the Johnny Miles races or go play some golf, head home when you’re done to fire up the barbecue and watch the final round of the U.S. Open.
And tell the ungrateful kids to get their own barbecue.
Kevin Adshade is sportswriter with The News. His column appears each Saturday.
