C by the Sea

Hudsy 5K Run (or, in my case, walk)

(I am hopelessly behind in my posts as I still have Sesame Place pictures and Reed's birthday to show you all. But, rather than make everything behind, I am skipping to the present to post these shots from the weekend. I hope to backtrack and get the others up soon. We shall, of course, not hold our breath.)

Every year we try to participate in the Hudsy 5K which takes place in the picturesque village of Quogue. It seems it's always a beautiful fall day for the race and this year was no exception. Sean and Lisha (crazy as they are) chose to run and the rest of us -- Heath (pushing Caleb and Joshua in the stroller), Jenn, David (pushing Reed in the stroller) and I -- knew our limits and chose to walk. We all managed to finish without injury -- or medals ;). But, it was a great time and my shins only hurt when I walk (two days later!) so it's all good!

Yes, he does need a bit of a haircut and that is a scrape on his nose. You should have seen that scrape a few days ago...

And, we're off!

A little after race confab. These two are the best of friends. :)

Another future heartbreaker.

Caleb is crazy about his Uncle Sean.

The Weekend: Part One

This past weekend was one of those we occasionally have around here where we keep quite busy running from one "happening" to the next. Saturday morning started early with the annual Hudsy 5K in Quogue. Sean, Lisha, Reed and I were there. Sean discovered that he had arrived at the race with 2 left sneakers so, without enough time to go home and get the "right" (as in right and correct!) sneakers, he decided to walk barefoot! But, there were quite a number of men who in the past had run the race and were this year pushing strollers, so he fit right in! (Except for the "barefoot" thing!) It was a beautiful morning, although a bit chilly and breezy. Reed promptly fell asleep in his cozy little stroller/nest and we all enjoyed the walk and time to visit with friends. This was Reed's second time at the Hudsy Run and since he wasn't able to cross the finish line under his own power last year, he was very interested in doing so this time! He and Sean also participated in the kids' 100 yard dash -- even though they did take a few "shortcuts"! ; )
All in all, a great start to the weekend...

Hudsy 5K Run pictures

Busy weekend, day 1, part A

Saturday morning began bright and early when Sean and Lisha dropped Reed at the house at 5:30AM on their way out to Montauk to run in a triathlon. We fed Reed breakfast, packed up and joined the bumper to bumper traffic heading out east. We missed the first event -- a mile swim -- but arrived just in time to get sleeping Reed into the stroller and under the umbrella to watch Mommy and Daddy zoom by.

I didn't see Lisha approaching and wasn't fast enough to snap a picture until she had passed by.

Sean was a bit easier to see in the fog. Notice the outfit...

After they had biked by, we put Reed back in the car -- where he promptly fell asleep again -- and drove down to the "staging area" (where all the athletes leave their bikes and other assorted stuff needed for the race ) and parked the car. Since it was somewhat rainy and Reed was sleeping, David went over to wait for Sean and Lisha to finish the 26 (!) mile bike ride and head out for the final leg of the triathlon -- a 10K (6.2 miles) run. When they came through the staging area, he called me on the cell (our modern version of the smoke signal) and I jumped out of the car and hurried over to get some pictures as they ran by.

David and I got back into the car (Reed was still sleeping) and tried to calculate when we thought Sean and Lisha would be crossing the finish line. The rain was really picking up and the sky was getting darker, but, as the time approached when we expected Sean and Lisha to be finishing, I took my camera and walked over to the finish line. David stayed in the car with Reed. I waited out by the finish line for a while and soon the thunder started rolling and the lightning was flashing. Now, intrepid photographer and loving mother aside, getting hit on the top of my head by a lightning bolt is not on my list of favorite things, so I decided to get back to the car. David, however, figured lightning was no match for him and he got out and hurried over to the finish line to see Sean and Lisha cross. And they did -- holding hands and ducking lightning!  I was able to get a picture of the  victorious duo through the car window as I gently suggested they might want to get out of the storm.

Since Reed was still sleeping, we kept him in the car with us and we all got back into the bumper to bumper traffic to head for EQ and day 1, part B.

A day for the plus column

This morning David, Reed and I drove over to Wading River to watch Sean in the Schiff Scout Duathlon. (Lisha was able to come for a little while after the race was over before she had to head back off to work.) Schiff is a really nice Boy Scout Camp back in the woods with a lake and lots of trails. The race consisted of a 2 mile run, a 10 mile bike and another 2 mile run -- all through the woods. Sean started off well, but later said that about 1/2 mile into the first run he knew he was a bit off his game. But, he was determined to finish and ran the first 2 miles, came in and got on his bike and took off for the 10 mile "pedal". After completing that, he parked his bike and headed back out -- walking -- for the last 2 miles. After a short while he came back and said that he was done. He just didn't have it in him to finish. So, we decided to head over to the chow line where they had food for the athletes. Sean got a big plate of pasta salad, a few gatorades, and several bagels with peanut butter. By the time he finished eating, he decided he would finish the race. In all the races he's done, he had never not finished. He figured he still had enough time before they ended the race -- they end it after 3 hours -- even if he walked. Well, he was the last man across the finish line (in 2 hours and 40 minutes), but he finished! And he was the only one to have stopped for a meal! ;) As Sean was completing the race, they started what is known as the "Huffy Toss". A Huffy is a brand of bike and the toss consists of participants throwing an old bike. I have no idea where they came up with this idea, but everyone got quite a kick out of it. As Sean came over to watch, David said, "Sean, you should try it." Well, Sean watched for a few minutes and then got on line to give it a shot. The guy right before him was last year's reigning champ and after he threw the bike it looked like he was going to hold on to his title. Then, it was Sean's turn. He picked up the bike, got himself situated and heaved that bike through the air. It went so far that it landed, bounced back and STILL beat the other guy's toss! Who knew a bike could go so far through the air? Several more guys gave the bike a toss, but no one came close to Sean's mighty heave-ho. So, despite having a tough time with the race, Sean still won a case of soda. And he won a hat in the raffle! Not bad, huh? (Oh, and one other thing. Mr. Reedy got his first tooth today. So see, this day really does get marked down in the plus column!)

Sean took a minute out of the race to admire Reed's new tooth.

Hasn't landed yet!

He did it!

Well, Sean did it! He ran the Disney Goofy Challenge -- a half marathon (13 miles) followed the very next day by a full marathon (26 miles)! The whole family traveled to Disney to cheer him on and also spend some time at Magic Kingdom and Epcot. More pictures to follow, but for now, congratulations, Sean! You did a great job -- one I can't even imagine doing -- and we are all very proud of you!

(BTW, Sean celebrated his 36th birthday the day before the first race! Happy Birthday, buddy!)

   

Additional pictures!