Blame It On The Rain

I promised myself I was going to run seven miles Saturday morning. As I stepped onto my front pouch, I said "Oh…nice morning." Not ten seconds later, the rain hit. If I had started out two mins later, I probably would had bagged the entire run & headed back to bed. But, as it turned out, I slogged my way through every puddle that could be found in the Haddonleigh section of Haddon Twp. Tuesday morning, the same scenario happened & I couldn’t do it again. I wimped out & stayed in bed, and I don’t regret my decision. It was miserable out. This morning was much better....chilly, but at least dry. Five fun filled miles later, I was home a little after 6:00am.

My thoughts turn towards some friends getting ready for the Super Bowl of runs…..The Boston Marathon next week:

My neighbor & friend Patrick Gallagher. Like thoroughbreds, Pat comes from a great family of runners & I’m sure he’ll do great in Boston.

Friend & Salt Shaker Foundation board member Joe Mahoney. In the Curley household Joe’s name cannot me mentioned without my wife Patrice saying "I just love Joe Mahoney." As a cancer survivor, Joe will be running as part of Team Livestrong Army Runners.

My good friend from York College Lori Z. I don’t know if it’s possible to keep a smile on your face while running 26.2 miles, but I think Lori’s got the best shot at pulling this off.

Good luck to all,
Pat

I logged a lot of miles training for that day. And I downed a lot of doughnuts.

In 2008, I tried to do at least one organized race a month. It was fun to plan out & pick a race months ahead of time. I did a 5K on vacation with my son Gavin & my nephew’s David & Erik (nothing like running a race with teenagers to make you feel old), and I did a 4 miler on my birthday with my sister Molly (yeah, I beat her & yeah, it felt good). This year, I think I’m going to keep it to three races: The Broad Street Run, The Run For Tony & The Philadelphia Marathon. Training has been getting better in the last few weeks. There are a million reasons/excuses to stay in bed at 5:00am, but as the miles pile up, I’m trying to look at my 5:15 runs as "my time."

For this weeks entry, I thought I’d compile the best running scenes in movies & TV. In no particular order, here are some of my favorites:

Will Ferrell as Hank The Tank streaking though campus in Old School.

Dustin Hoffman as Babe in Marathon Man. The scenes in which Babe is running in Central Park & flashing on Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila are great.

Watching the 1500m on TV during the Seoul Olympics, 1988. I was visiting my wife at Mt. St. Mary’s College for the weekend. A student at The Mount, Peter Rono was competing in the Seoul Olympics for Kenya. The thinking was he had no shot at winning a medal, but it would be a lot of fun just to watch him compete. A party was thrown in his dorm room & we all settled in to watch Peter run half a world away. At the wire, Peter wins the 1500m by less than a ¼ of a second & the campus of Mt. St. Mary’s erupts!

Denzel Washington running with the team through Gettysburg in Remember The Titans. Bonus points for the following lines: You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts, and then you will run a mile.

Rocky at The Art Museum, of course

Nicolas Cage running from the cops while trying to pick up some Huggies in Raising Arizona.

Paulie Walnuts & Chris-to-fuh chasing the Ukrainian through the Pine Barrens in The Sopranos.

Tyler Durken running in Fight Club. HUGE bonus points for the line: I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more.

Probably the beach running scene from Chariots of Fire. This came out in the early 80’s, and I probably would have rather gone to mass in August wearing my wool slacks from Al’s than go see an artsy film, so I never saw this movie.

Dumbest movie running scene: Anything from Forrest Gump. Here’s what bugs me. Forrest spend God knows how long waiting on a bench because Jenny told him to take a bus to her apartment. At this point, Jenny knows Forrest has spent three years of his life running back & forth across the country. Doesn’t it occur to her to just say, "Walk the last few blocks to my apartment to see me & meet your bastard child."

Saving the best for last. John Belushi for Little Chocolate Doughnuts. If you grew up in the mid-70’s, you have to remember how often the would show that Wheaties commercial after Bruce Jenner won the decathlon in the ’76 Olympics. To see John Belushi spoof him was just priceless. The funniest part of the entire commercial is that Belushi is sitting at the table with a lit cigarette. Most comedians would insist on puffing on the cigarette to make it more obvious. But Belushi just sits at the table with the cigarette burning while he’s doing his pitch. To me, it’s a subtle move that make the spot so much more funny.

Broad Street Run is a little over a month away & registration for the Phila Marathon opens today.
Thanks for reading, Pat

From The Planet LoveTron

Friday night was the last Sixers game ever played at The Spectrum. Like many kids growing up in the 70’s & 80’s in the Delaware Valley, I have a number of great memories from that arena. Flyers, Sixers, Globetrotters, Ringling Bros. Circus, Phantoms, concerts, the Spectrum hosted them all. In no particular order, here are a few of my best memories there:

Seeing the Globetrotters with my Dad. We had great seats, and this was back in the Curly Neal & Meadowlark Lemon days. You’d see them on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, but nothing can compare with seeing them live. Also, any Flyers game I went to with my Dad. Hockey games are always fun in person, especially with The Broad Street Bullies in their hey-day.

Taking my father-in-law Mac to a Phantoms game for his birthday with my brother-in-laws Karl & Steve. Karl came up with this bright idea for his fathers’ birthday. Blaring music, loud fans drinking too much are (to say the least) not up Mac’s alley, but he was a good sport & we had a nice guys night out.

The Grateful Dead on St. Patty’s day, 1992. Went with my wife Patrice & our friend Jimmy. Box of Rain, Minglewood, Loser, Memphis, Tenn Jed, Cassidy, Way To Go, Truckin’, Spoonful, He’s Gone, Drumz, Miracle, So Many Roads & Sugar Mag. Awesome! Jimmy was throwing green glitter on Patrice & I that we were finding in our house years later. Patrice solidifying her MVP status in finding a miracle.

Going to a Phantoms game with my son Gavin. I think Gavin was three at the time, and had the attention span of a gnat. We walked every around inch of the Spectrum that night.

George Michael: Not proud of it, but yep, I saw him there. I had just met Patrice & we went with friends of hers. There is no truth to the rumor that my daughter Faith is named after his song.

Flyers game with my girlfriend in high school, Liz Eife. Liz was ill for several weeks during our senior year & was basically confined to two rooms in her house. Her Dad gave us Flyers tickets & Liz was well enough to go. It was her first time out of the house in over a month. To put it mildly, it was a big deal.

7th & 8th grade Hawks Basketball. We got to play a game at the Spectrum before the Sixers game. I don’t even remember what took place during our game…my head was spinning from being on the same floor where Dr. J played. After the game, Dave Hall, Vinnie Marone, Pat Lamb, Gerald Thomas & the rest of us dressed in the Flyers locker room. Coming out of the locker room, we ran straight into Daryl Dawkins wearing a full length pink fur coat. Outstanding!

A Valentines Day Flyers Game with my wife. Nothing like a stay in a suite at The Rittenhouse Hotel & a Flyers game to chase away the winter blues.

My sister Suzanne taking me to a Flyers autograph session during the Flyers Stanley Cup years. I’m sure she wasn’t allowed to be driving to South Philly on a school night, but she did anyway to avoid disappointing her little brother.

Kentucky – Duke ’92: I wasn’t there, but it was the night of my wife’s bridal shower. Since guys were verboten at the shower, my Dad, Uncle Jack, and a bunch of my buddies went to the Pennsauken Country Club to watch it. Wildly considered the best college basketball game ever, it happened at The Spectrum.

David Bowie, The Serious Moonlight Tour. My first concert. Rockhead, Gary, Boone, Brown the afore mentioned Jon Martini & a bunch others took the train over to see an incredible show.

Since this is supposed to be a blog about running, I’ll end with this: The Broad Street Run in 2007 & 2008. The Broad Street Run goes right past the sports complexes in South Philly. After running around City Hall, there isn’t much to look at to take your mind off how tired you are: Italian restaurants, Korean nail salons, funeral parlors, gas stations. Once you catch sight of The Linc, Nova Care Complex, The Spectrum & The Whatevertheircallingitthisweek Center, you know you’re completed 9 & ½ miles of a ten mile course. The first year I did the Broad Street, someone had set up an amplifier in front of The Spectrum & was blaring the Rocky Theme towards all the runners. In 2008 I ran with my niece Marie. Once we caught glimpse of The Spectrum, we knew we had only about half a mile until the finish line.

Broad Street Run is in seven weeks. Training starts in earnest on Monday! (Maybe Tuesday).
Pat

Dawk

Again, I’m copying from my buddy Rob’s format & occasionally delving into topics other than running. I had to write a little something about former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins leaving the Birds for the Denver Bronco’s. I was thrilled when my beloved Eagles drafted B-Dawk out of Clemson in the second round of the 1996 draft. My sister Mary Pat had also graduated from Clemson, and we both looked forward to seeing what this Clemson Tiger could do for our team. We had no idea how many contributions B-Dawk would make in his 13 years in Philly. His bone-jarring hits, his pass coverage, his sacks & tenacity made him a joy to watch each & every game.
In my lifetime, there may have been a few players in Philadelphia that were more talented than B-Dawk. (Mike Schmitt, Dr. J, Steve Carlton, Reggie White). But NOBODY understood the Philadelphia fan more than B-Dawk. What do we what from our players? Simple: Everything you got & do it with class & all your heart. That’s it. No great mystery. Do that & you will never pay for a drink in the Delaware Valley in your lifetime. No "For who, for what?" No giggling with the other team after a playoff loss. No blaming the fans or media. Give it your all & care as much as we do. That’s what B-Dawk did each & every time he strapped it up.
During this years improbable playoff run by the Eagles, all I wanted was a Super Bowl victory. Not for me, not so my family & I could squeeze on to the Speed Line to watch another parade, not so the entire city could recapture the joy of the Phillies World Series (times 10). All I wanted to see was B-Dawk hoist that silver football over his head while tears streamed down his face. Apparently, according to Joe Banner, this was too much to ask for.
Some will blame Eagles management for throwing around nickels like they were man-whole covers & for always looking to win the coveted "Salary Cap Bowl". Maybe they’re right. It’s just so rare in this day & age to find a player & city that fit as well as B-Dawk & Philly did for the last 13 years. And we just let him walk out the door. I look forward to seeing the ovation B-Dawk gets when the Broncos come to Philly this fall. I guarantee #20 will shed a tear, as will many Eagles fans.
Thanks for your effort Dawk. It was our pleasure to have you on our team.

I Wish I Knew How To Quit You

Except for my years at college, and 18 months right after I got married, I’ve lived in Haddon Twp. my entire life. As running can be somewhat tedious (even with an ipod), I enjoy running the streets of my hometown & remembering different events that took place there & people I know.
That’s what happened on a chilly Saturday morning this weekend when I found myself on Strawbridge Ave. I wanted to run about five miles Saturday. As I was running down Haddon Ave., I made the wise decision to turn before I got to Mc Millian’s Bakery. One wiff of the bakery & the run would have ended right there in lieu of coffee & several cream doughnuts. While running down Stawbridge Ave., I passed my friend Jon Martini’s house. To say Jon & I go way back is an understatement. Jon’s folks & my folks both bought houses catty-corner from each other in winter of ’65, and we’ve been friends ever since. As I ran along & past Jon’s house, I remember all the trouble & fun we’ve had over the past four decades together: Reeking havoc on Christmas decorations throughout the Bluebird section, hockey games where the other team was basically Leon Spinks to our Mike Tyson, Jon coming up to York College for a visit & running from cops, the time Jon stopped me from trying to beat the living hell out of a Sea Isle cop (always smart), a very special Easter Saturday watching overtime hockey, Jon’s son Luke’s first football game, sleeping on somebody’s patio in Ocean City, Md. the list goes on & on. It’s no wonder that my family & I proudly refer to Jon as my Life-Partner. As the chilly miles continued, I thought less of my aching knee, and more about all the fun Jon & I had over the years. Before I knew it, I was back home with a smile on my face. All runs should be this good.

Well, How Did I Get Here?

If you’re reading this & don't know me, I don’t look like much of a runner, and in truth, I’m not. Aside from my sister Molly’s inclusion on the Holy Savior Track Team in the early 80’s (Just ask her about it. She’ll be sure to regal you in great detail about her accomplishments), my sisters & I saw running as a necessary evil. While we were all athletes, we ran solely to train and get in shape for other sports: field hockey, tennis, swimming, football, basketball etc. As my Dad, a Hall of Fame football coach so aptly put it when he first laid eyes on my newborn son: "Well, you don’t have to worry about him wearing the numbers 1 through 49 on the football field." Two events set me in motion to lace up my first pair of running sneaks at age thirty seven. One was the annual Run For Tony that takes place in my home town of Haddon Twp the last Wednesday of August. The course for this 5K goes right past my house & each year I’d sit out on the front lawn with a cooler of beer to watch the runners go by. After the last of the runners would struggle by, I would think "I should do that next year." However, this pipe dream was always quickly dismissed once the on-coming (and inevitably disappointing) Philadelphia Eagles season would start up. The other event was finding out my buddy Rick Haney had taken up running. First of all, I’m not trying to through Rick under the bus here (he’s a much better runner than I am), but Rick also doesn’t fit what most people think a runner should look like either. Rick explained he was just running for fun, and that the beer always tasted better after finishing a run. Rick wasn’t trying to break any land speed records, and would never be mistaken for a Kenyan, but he was giving each run his best shot & I envied his sense of accomplishment. These two events lead me to my first Run For Tony 5K at age thirty eight. My goals were modest: keep running & finish. However, once this race started, something unexpected happened: People started cheering me on. Now, any runner who has participated in anything from a 5K to a marathon will tell you how much this helps & means to them, and I couldn’t agree more. I just wasn’t prepared for how much it helped me get to the finish line. Another thing occurred to me after crossing the finish line at Van Sciver School in August of 2003: This was the first time somebody cheered for me since I last played football on Thanksgiving Day, 1983. Although I went on to play basketball (I was terrible & never got in a game) & tennis (who comes out & cheers for a tennis player?), it had been a full twenty years since someone I didn’t know stood on the sidelines & yelled "You can do it!" That was all it took & I was hooked. At first, I thought I’d just do the Run For Tony each year, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to try more runs of varying lengths. Since that August day in 2003, I’ve done several more runs, 5K’s, 4 milers, 10K’s 10 milers & a couple of half marathons. Along the way I’ve managed to stock pile more t-shirts than a Nike plant in Malaysia. After I saw my buddy Rob at about mile 18 in the 2008 Philadelphia Marathon, I knew I wanted to see if I could run 26.2 miles. This blog is more about "putting myself out there" to help me complete the required training. Let me explain. In college I’d study before a test because I was afraid of failing & I’d have to admit to my parents that my greatest accomplishment that semester was winning ten straight ping pong games at The Depot on twenty five cent Rolling Rock night. Fear was a good thing. Same principles apply here. By telling as many people as possible I’m planning on running the Philadelphia Marathon will help me log the required miles to avoid copping out when the going gets tough. Thanks for reading & stay tuned. 276 days to go. Pat

Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants.

Well, here we go. This is my first attempt at blogging, so let me start with an introduction.
My name is Pat Curley, and I live in Haddon Twp., New Jersey with my wife Patrice, two kids Gavin & Faith & our dog Guinness. I’m going to attempt to run my first marathon on November 22, 2009 in Philadelphia. I’m blatantly ripping off the blogging idea from my buddy Rob Rossi. Rob started his blog in the spring of 2008 to capture events, trials & tribulations leading up to The Philadelphia Marathon. I was amazed firstly, by what a good writer Rob is, and secondly, by the amount of support he got that really helped carry him 26.2 miles back on a chilly day in November. I’m going to try to stick to Rob’s ground rules & keep to the topic of running on this blog as much as possible. If by chance you’re more interested in something more meaningful than my ramblings & yarns, please check out my wife’s non profit that benefits the Lance Armstrong Foundation: http://www.saltshakerfoundation.com/