Run Like An Irishman (Run 74)

It had been well over a month since I last ran with the Irish (possibly longer). It had been a rainy, cold day for August, and I decided that I would run with the Flying Irish for my fifth run with them.* Little did I know I arrived on the day they were completing their longest route (closer to 4 than 3 miles).

The "River Loop" starts at O'Doherty's (as does every FI run), heads west on Spokane Falls Blvd., down to Clarke and through Peaceful Valley, across the Sandifur Bridge, up the winding hill path towards the former (current?) Kendall Yards project, around by the health building, down Monroe, back through Riverfront Park, all to return to O'D's. The route is hilly (downhill for a good portion of the start), rocky, and long. Despite this, I ran considerably faster than I had during my previous FI runs. Was I the fastest? Usain Bolt, I was not. But, there were more people finishing after me than there were on my previous runs.

Next time I run with the FI, I get "shirted," which from what I understand involves me standing on the bar at O'D's and telling and Irish joke. I think I have one--an Irish lawyer joke, no less.**

*Yesterday was also my dad's 65th birthday. So, basically when my dad was born, people still ran road races in their barefoot--mostly for the purposes of avoiding rival clans/tribes/Greeks & Romans.

**If you complete 6 runs with the FI, you get a technical running shirt (long sleeve) with the FI logo. There is a brief "initiation" to get said shirt. For more on the FI, go here: http://www.flyingirish.org/.