January 2nd 2012, Lake Mingo Run / Photo Journal

On January 2nd 2012, I got the chance to enjoy one of my favorite courses. I've indulged myself on the Kennekuk Cove 7 mile Lake Mingo trail many times throughout the years and have always found it a great scenic workout. Here are the photos ...

Getting started, lots of memories here.

Started out a some snow flurries but they subsided about a mile into the trail.

About 1/3rd into it now, very nice!

The second half of the trail!

Just about done!

Saturday City Tour "Beer" Run

Looking for something to do this weekend and saw that Saturday was supposed to be nice. Emailed Brenda to see if she would be up for this City Tour run and she thought it could be fun. It was! This run was focused on Fremont, a very quirky little city within Seattle proper. Our hosts were Rita and Dennis and they were simply fantastic!

Just about to start out, wanted to get an opening shot of the brewery. Dennis did an awesome job of taking pictures for this run and emailed them to us early on Sunday. I'm definitely going to try some of their other runs and perhaps even a run in one of the other cities someday!

We are off, the entire trip is just about 3 miles. Rita did an excellent job of telling us a little history at our many stops and I only have pictures from some of them. If you want to know more, I highly encourage you to book a run yourself ( http://cityrunningtours.com/ ).

Some shots at the famous Fremont Troll!

Running shot!

Some shots at Gasworks Park.

A group shot under the George Washington Memorial Bridge.

A couple shots at the Lenin statue.

Next stop was at a memorial for a Seattle TV show from the past.

Here we are at the brewery for a post run beer (or two). I had a couple "Cask: Orange Smack ABombs" (very yummy) and Brenda has a pair of "The Sister Imperial IPA's" (also quite tasty!). All in all, a very nice Saturday afternoon in the Emerald City!

Kirkland Turkey Trot 2011

Brenda and I had a great time at the 2011 Kirkland Turkey Trot benefitting HopeLink.

The day was absolutely beautiful and just the right amount to chilly!

Here you can see Brenda doing a warmup!

After wards, we did a walk around Kirkland and took these snaps of these statues.

Not a bad time for me, this one was for you Kim

BTW: I have a small bit of history with HopeLink, they were the customer for my 2010 Project Management Practicum class. The project was to help the organization with their annual giving tree program and it united 10 strangers for 10 weeks. This race tugged at my heart because one of our key team members passed shortly after we graduated. Kim was an absolutely wonderful person, internally I tried to run a good time for Kim and said a prayer for her family.

Photos From A Nice 12.69 Mile Jog

Taking some vacation days this week (a use it or loose it situation) and decided to go for a long run and take my camera along with me. This outing wasn't my traditional long run route and I really enjoyed this rare beautiful Seattle autumn day. So here is a series of shots I made along the way of this 12.69 mile jog.

Sunday Morning "Run Scared" 5K

Last week, although we paid and registered, we decided against going to the Zombie Run 5K in Olympia. It was raining like crazy and too far to drive in that bad weather to run in that kind of weather. I heard about the Run Scared 5K  which benefits The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and we decided to give it a go. Personally, I just wanted to see how people would react to the costume I got Bogie and the feedback was awesome!

This picture has grown into one of my favorites of the year. I saw someone ahead of me pointing their camera blindly behind them. I decided to give it a go and never realized my head would appear in a "Kilroy" pose. As you scan the photo, look at

• the child's expression in the lower right
• the pair of hands holding up an iPhone for a picture in the mid upper right
• the woman whose costume is simply a handlebar mustache
• way in the back, the four guys going as teenage mutant ninja turtles
• and all the others

I love this shot!

Here is a peak at Bogies costume. The most awesome part about it is the pumpkin the the sleepy hallow riders hand would bop up and down while he was running!

Bogie and I before the race. I ended up turning the mask backwards for the run.

Another bogie shot.

My ride, date and running partner Brenda, who decided to go sans costume!