Lucky St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day--I got lucky today! Adventures NW magazine emailed me and said I won a free entry to the Eugene Marathon in May.

Awesome! I am excited because a.) I never win ANYTHING, and b.) this is the EUGENE MARATHON! Eugene is the mecca of running, with maybe only Boston to compete with. I've been reading Runner's World since I was a kid, and I've read all the stories about Pre and Bowerman and Hayward Field a kajillion times, seen the movies, and this marathon is supposed to capture a bit of all that for a weekend. Solid!

This photo is special, and now seems like a good time to post it. This photo is the real deal, an original of an original, now a legend, taken by a friend somewhere around the early 1970s when he was down at Oregon. I believe this is from the Pac 8 championships. Copyright of the photo, Thom Beamish, 2008. All rights reserved.