Race report by Jim Linville
The third occasionally annual Laughing Out Loud Marathon went off without a hitch. Xavier Sublime was Master of Ceremonies at the home of Cody and Hayley Garnett. After taking turns at winning hands of chess and consuming some of the most fabulous hot chocolate, Xavier declared "it's time to jelly, ... Let's stone and bisquit!" (in other words, rock and roll).
The Laughing Out Loud Marathon is, in other words, a rare opportunity for good friends to get together and express support and unity. With temperatures stuck in the single digits for days on end, four degrees was almost normal for these guys. With the forcasters warning everyone to stay inside and threatening with the scare tactics of "your skin will freeze," these people seem to be dedicated enthusiests, in other words, insane.
Co-director Andy Emerson, Steve Kullman and Andy Starostka competed for prizes and their places in history. It was 4 degrees at 10:17 and "runners to your mark."
That's the spirit of the Laughing Out Loud, everyone is a winner.
Thanks Andy, we'll take that as a compliment. We'll also take Andy's advice of setting "a goal of increasing enteries by 100% for 2011." We'll try talk Mike Denehy into putting the race on next year. What a job that man does of putting on a race. Mike suggested, "Nice, work everyone. Three LOLs in the bag. This was definitely the wackiest of them yet. The days before the event hoovered in the artic sub zero temps. No one in their right minds would ever show up for such madness. The snow and the streets were covered in a nasty black soot."
The Laughing Out Loud Marathon is, in other words, a rare opportunity for good friends to get together and express support and unity. With temperatures stuck in the single digits for days on end, four degrees was almost normal for these guys. With the forcasters warning everyone to stay inside and threatening with the scare tactics of "your skin will freeze," these people seem to be dedicated enthusiests, in other words, insane.
Co-director Andy Emerson, Steve Kullman and Andy Starostka competed for prizes and their places in history. It was 4 degrees at 10:17 and "runners to your mark."
Steve Kullman came in at 1 hour and 38 minutes and took the most unique short cut prize of a $5 chess game. Andy Emerson came in second at 2:02 claiming to have ran a half marathon, (there is no prize for that). Andy Starostka took the covetted Dead Ass Last prize of his own Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker coming in with a 2:03 time on what he claimed to be a half marathon. Mike Denehy owner of Off Track Events the sponsor of the LOL Marathon donated some great door prizes and Off Track memorabilia.
Andy Emerson shared some of his experience in his own words: "The cold weather did not deter us since the 3 of us mentioned before 2 miles we were quite warm. We lost Steve on Paris Rd and the two Andy's ran together from this point. The snow covered part of the course on the Bear Creek Trail was tough to run. We were glad to hit the road again and thankful we were only planning to run 3 more miles. We rounded off to 13.1 to make a half marathon. I beat Andy Starostka up the stairs to race headquarters and our official timer so I officially beat him. After, we enjoyed the hot chocolate provided by the marathon hosts out of their home and collected some great door prizes. Even though I did not finish the entire marathon, I plan to run the rest of the course at a later date and award myself a medal at that time."
Andy Emerson shared some of his experience in his own words: "The cold weather did not deter us since the 3 of us mentioned before 2 miles we were quite warm. We lost Steve on Paris Rd and the two Andy's ran together from this point. The snow covered part of the course on the Bear Creek Trail was tough to run. We were glad to hit the road again and thankful we were only planning to run 3 more miles. We rounded off to 13.1 to make a half marathon. I beat Andy Starostka up the stairs to race headquarters and our official timer so I officially beat him. After, we enjoyed the hot chocolate provided by the marathon hosts out of their home and collected some great door prizes. Even though I did not finish the entire marathon, I plan to run the rest of the course at a later date and award myself a medal at that time."
That's the spirit of the Laughing Out Loud, everyone is a winner.
Andy Starostka ran the LOL for the first time this year and had this to say, "Maybe next year I will do the entire distance, but the first loop was plenty for me this time. As mentioned, the Bear Creek Trail was snow covered and did a good job of kicking my butt. By the time I made it back to the house, I had more than enough. The ice crem maker was a great "pink elephant" gift and my 6 YO asked about 20 times both Saturday and Sunday when we were going to make some ice cream. I ended up hiding it for reasons of domestic tranquility. I am rather new to the Columbia scene, but have enjoyed the relaxed and friendly atmospere of this group."
Thanks Andy, we'll take that as a compliment. We'll also take Andy's advice of setting "a goal of increasing enteries by 100% for 2011." We'll try talk Mike Denehy into putting the race on next year. What a job that man does of putting on a race. Mike suggested, "Nice, work everyone. Three LOLs in the bag. This was definitely the wackiest of them yet. The days before the event hoovered in the artic sub zero temps. No one in their right minds would ever show up for such madness. The snow and the streets were covered in a nasty black soot."
