I will be out on the May 18th race.
That is the weekend of Susan's daughters graduation, so I will be in Fort Worth. I am glad to be there for Katie, but wish it was another weekend.

Aww, unfortunate, but I understand. Gotta keep her happy, and she's definitely worth it! I'm sure they'll appreciate your presence as much as you'll be glad to be there.

Another time, another race. Besides, each year older you get, the better chance I have of being able to keep up with you!

Actually, the older I get, the more likely I am to win by simple attrition!

In your age group, sure, but these races aren't timed or done by age group anyway! Well, you can time yourself, and you can request a time if you're competing to qualify for the world's toughest race, but I never expect to have to consider something that challenging.

The thing I like about that race is just the challenge and the way its presented. Completion of the race is its own worthy goal.

Indeed it is. I was looking at the Missouri options, out of curiosity, thinking of a centralized location for some of us nut-jobs. They're running in St. Louis and KC on consecutive weekends in September, unfortunately I'm on a work trip right in the middle of both of them so don't think the schedule would work out well for me.

Maybe a 2014 Epic reunion event?? Friday night get together, Saturday morning race, Saturday night party (which may mean drinks with straws so we can stay laying on the floor...)? I bet if we're close enough to Jen, we can drag her out to join us!

Jen's not afraid of mud, that's for sure! But we will have to get permission from Karen (her trainer) first! But any kind of race is good with me!

I think a neutral ground race is a great idea! KC and St Louis are good locations!

Hey, Karen can come too! It'll be fun. And with at least another year of healing time, she'll be the one we're trying to keep pace with.

If you pick one in KC or STL in 2014, I will be there.

When they post the 2014 schedule, we'll jump on it! And through it, and crawl under it.

Nobody has any heart conditions that would be adversely impacted by an electric shock, right?? Mani's scared of water, but we'll work around that. The rest is just mud, some fire, general insanity. Nothing special.

<<<< Scared of the electric shock!!!!

And I'm not scared of water, I just can't swim! There's a difference. Can I bring my floaties?

I will bring you pink floaties. With glitter.

Tip: Don't get shocked and it won't be a problem. Problem? Good luck avoiding it.

Let her jump, the dudes in scuba gear will drag her out if they don't see her surface. It'll be all dramatic and cool!

Mani remainds of a friend of mine that is afraid of flying. He insists is not afraid of flying...He is just afraid of crashing!

How high is this jump? It sounds scary to me if it is deep enough for guys in scuba gear to possibly have to save me.

Ok so now mani is a chick and and you are telling her to jump the dudes in scuba gear?

The platform you jump from is probably 20-25 feet in most cases, but every course is different so you can't really be sure until standing on it. The water is probably around 10 feet deep, I know I didn't touch the bottom.

Just think of Louie Anderson! If he could do a "back flip" off the platform in that Splash show (I regrettably flipped past it last night, caught him in the most terrifying outfit ever, and had to watch him flop), anyone can!

And yes BBB, I'm pretty sure she's just concerned she'll drown. But it won't happen!

I could see her clinging to the scuba dudes and dragging them down with her though

It sounds way worse than it is. The jump is actually one of my favorite parts! Except in the race that we had to wear BDU's and boots to be in the competitive division of the race. All that carp gets heavy when its wet.

Sadly I caught that as well...it was like a train wreck. I couldnt not watch.

Louie provides a valuable service. Who doesn't feel better about themselves after seeing that?!?!

And if it's hot and you're caked with mud (which makes you hotter and heavier!), getting a bath is very helpful!

Wurd!

Just dont ask whats in the water.

Yes. In all cases, keep your mouth closed in the water.

A co-worker of mine's husband ran a half-marathon yesterday, first he's ever done, first race since shortly after high school (10+ years ago), trained for 8 weeks with a 10k training plan, almost exclusively on a treadmill, showed up and it was 29 degrees with 15-20 mph wind, it sleeted a bit during the race and he still managed just under 1:43. I was jealous! Big tall lanky guy running faster than my 5k pace. Good for him and all, but grrrr!

HOLY CARP!! That's a sub 8:00 pace!!

Thats's just wrong dude....