Where were you?

So where were you when you heard of the news 8 years ago? I remember very well. I was a sophomore at Bethel. I was on my way to Tennis class and walked through the Acorn and saw on the big screan TV that the Pentagon had a plane crash into it. Thought it was odd but didnt think anything of it. Went to tennis class and asked others if they saw what happened at the Pentagon. That is when I was told by other students that the World Trace Center was hit as well. Could not believe it. Went on to play tennis as usual then back to the dorm room where the replays of the planes crashing into the towers and the towers falling were shown over and over again. Day I will never forget

New Blog

So I have found a web site that allows me to track day to daymy progress as if I were running across the country starting in Yorktown, VA and heading to the Pacific. To follow my progress go to my newest blog http://marksrunacrossthecountry.blogspot.com/. I will continue to use this blog, this is just something new. I will beposting interesting facts about the town that I run through on my way through the United States so it isnt all about running. Hope you enjoy the journey

Oregon Weekend, Day 3 (Race Day)

The Morning started at about 5:15 local time (about 45 minutes earlier than expected no thanks to Coach Mikel.) Started off with breakfast (1 bagel) and vitamin water. At about 6:30 we made our way to the starting line.

7:00 the race started. I started running a 3 hours and 40 minute pace (my goal time). I started out at about the right pace. At about mile 6 I lost our pace setter and went out on my own. This would either be a good idea or bad idea, I am still not sure which one it is right now. The race was going well early. At about the half way mark I was 2 and a 1/2 minutes head of pace. Things continued to go well until about mile 23. Here is the deal with marathons. It is 26.2 miles of adventure that will go bad at some point. You just dont know when. The good news for me is that it didnt go bad until mile 23. I kept a good pace up until that point, then my legs got very heavy and tiered. I was able to keep going however without walking. My officail finishing time was 3 hours 38 minutes and 16 seconds which is about 2 minutes faster than the time I ran 2 years ago and is a post college personal record.
Also a not, there were a pear of bets associated with the races today. First off, was the race between the eliete marathon runner, Aaron Hoover and coach Mark "pappy" Mikel. The bet was that Coach could run a half marathon time that was faster than Aarons full marathon time. The Results: Aaron runs a time 45 seconds faster than coach.
Bet #2 and the MAIN EVENT was Mark "I had shin pains for 2 months" Davidhizar vs. Rick "I may have a strained Calf" Stuckey. The bet was that I would run a faster Marathon time than Rick, the catch was that there was age calculater that would be used to even out the field. After punching in the numbers before the race and what we were both aiming to run, I had to run 20 minutes faster than Rick. Well all this because a mute point when Rick dropped out of the race with cramps in the calf in question. So the "Young Pups" as we have been called all weekend, won the bets and were treated to a burger and beverage of our choice.
Overall the trip was awesome. However there just wasnt enough time to to see it all and enjoy Eugene more. I would love to come back again and run the Marathon.

Oregon Weekend, Day 2

Saturday morning started off with us heading down to watch the 5K race. We meet up with 2 ladies from California who were supposed to meet us earlier on Friday but due to flight problems didnt get in to Eugene until 11 Friday night. Julia was the Masters winner of the 5K and Hellen place 3rd in her age division running a post Cemo Personal Record. We also were able to see the Fork beat the Pancake, Flap Jack, for the race win (see pictures below.)





Later on in the afternoon we went to Pre's Rack which is the sight where famous long distance runner Steve Prefontaine died in a car crash in 1975. Prefontaine was known for his 5000 meter running. In his only olympic apperance, Pre finished 5000 in the 5000 which he was heavily favored in in 1972. There were high expectations for him for the '76 olympics. Sadly no one ever got to see if he could meet those expectations.



After Pre's Rock we went to Carbo load and an Italian restaurant in town. Service was great and the food was wonderful. Then it was off to the hotel and to bed to get ready for the big day.

Oregon Weekend, Day 1

I landed at about 10:30 Pacific time, after 7-8 hours of flying today and meet Aaron at the baggage claim. From there the two of us drove about 2 hours to Eugene where we meet our high school cross country coach, Mark Mikel, and a friend of his named Rick Stuckey who lives just north of Eugene. After meeting up with them, we went to down to Historic Hayward Field, home to the "Men of Oregon."





Coach Mikel also unvailed the new "running club" in honor of his daughter Kelsey. We are not the Yellow Flying Monkeys. Yellow because it was Kelsey's favorite color, Monkeys because they used to call her Monkey or Monkey Butt, and flying monkey because she loved the wizard of Oz. Here are the singlets we will be wearing for the race on Sunday given to us by coach.

Later on in the day we went for a little bit of a run on "Pre's Trail." it is a beautiful trail to run on and hopefully tomorrow I will have time to take some pictures of it.
Right now it is raining here which could be the case for alot of the time we are here. Hopefully Sunday morning will be drier for the race.

Should I really be flying?

According to the vice president probably not

IPod Vending machine

This might be the coolest thing I have seen in a long time.

Found this at the Indianapolis Airport

Eugene Weekend Begins Now!!!

The Weekend that I have been preparing for for 6 months is finally here, It is time to fly out to Eugene, OR to run in my 5th marathon. But this one is differnt than the others I have ran. Manily because this one is at the Track capital of the world, the Univeristy of Oregon. It is now 4:29 am on Friday and I am sitting in the Indianapolis Airport waiting to board a 6:00 am flight that will take me from here to Phoenix to Portland where I will meet my high school friend and teamate Aaron Hoover who is flying from Denver.
I wish I could say I am ready but that is not really the case. i have now recovered from about 2 months of shin pain that really set my training back.Throughout the weekend I will be blogging on the expereince and tell you later how you can follow my progress throughout the race on Sunday. Till then, have a great weekend

Cubs vs. Brewers

What better way to celebrate Easter Sunday than by going to a Cubs/Brewers. This was my first time watching a game at Miller Park. It was also the first time that I have seen a game indoors. First off, just because a game is indoors, doesnt mean that you will stay warm. Where are seats were located, it was very cold.

Also, who in the world picked the seat location for the stadium? We were right next to the slide that Bernie the Brewer slides down on after a Brewers Home Run. This slide blocked out the hole right field and center field from view. We were unable to see two huge plays in the game. The first being the lead off home run by Cubs outfielder Alfanso Soriano, we were not able to see where the ball landed in behind the center field wall. The second was that we were unable to see this play in right field:
Durring the game I am getting messages saying that it was the greatest catch people had seen and that I was lucky t be there. All I could say is i couldnt see it. Heres why:

But this view isnt so bad:

Also for being known for its Sauseage Race and haveing good tasting sausages, their Brats were not that good at the ball park. I was disapointed to say the least.


But over all, it was a great time with 5 other guys from my church. We had a great time and great discussions on the way to the game and durring the game (I said great discussions, not in-depth). Where else besides church can you get friends ranging in age from a high school junior to Empty nest fathers to go to a ball game together? Not only that, but I also got to knock another park off my list of ball park to visit. It wasnt Wrigley Field (although Cub fans do like to call it Wrigley North), but I would go back up there again without hesitation. After all, the Cubs did win the game. And nothing beats singing "Go Cubs Go" and holding up the W flag after a Cubs win especially at a rivals stadium!!! (By the way, who cares about getting back home at 4:15 am and having to work at 6:00?)

Heres to a start of a new Baseball Season

THIS IS THE YEAR!!!!!

This day in History

1930 - Leo Hartnett of the Chicago Cubs broke the altitude record for a catch by catching a baseball dropped from the Goodyear blimp 800 feet over Los Angeles, CA.
1970 President Richard Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and TV.
1933 Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
1996 Baseball umpire John McSherry died after collapsing during a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.
1999 A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with originating the "Melissa" e-mail virus, which infected more than 1 million computers worldwide.
2003 American troops rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, where she had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed nine days earlier.
2008 The Pentagon made public a legal memo dated March 14, 2003, that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects, saying that President George W. Bush's wartime authority trumped any international ban on torture

The 5/3 Burger

The West Michigan Whitecaps baseball team have come up with a new Burger, the 5/3 Burger (named after their ball park, 5/3 Field). THe burger is made up of five-thirds of a pound of grilled hamburger topped with lettuce, tomatoes, nacho cheese, chili, salsa and crunched corn chips. Holding it all together is an eight-inch sesame seed bun. The burger costs $20, and can be cut into fourths and served as a family meal. Here are the important stats: 4489 Calories. And you also get a free shirt with it if you finish it by yourself. YOu start by needing a medium shirt and by the time you finish it you need and XXL.

Obama Gives The Queen and IPod

Well, Obama has done it again. Another lame gift to Britan Royalty. This time he gies the queen and IPod as a gift with video of her 2007 trip to the United States. First off, I think he probably already has video of her trip. A woman of her power I am sure has someone taking care of that I am sure. Also, she already has an IPod. Someone is dropping the ball in the White House when selecting these gifts. First, DVD's that cant even be viewd over in Brittan then and IPod to the queen who already has one. How does the IPod represent America, it isnt made here!!! As my mom said, the IPod is nothing you cant buy in any store. Jumbo Jelly Beans from the Wakarusa Dime Store would be a mone eunique gift than an IPod.
But they again, the Queens gift wasnt much better. The Queen gave a sterling silver framed picture autographed by the Royal Family. What do you do with that?

Bob Knight with another great commercial

Bob Knight and other great coaches make a great commercial for Guitar Hero Mettalica version. Got to love this

The Weekend in Indy

So this weekend, my dad and I took a trip down to Indy for the IHSAA state basketball finals. It was a day consisting of four high school basketball games. This used to be an event that we were able to attend every year, however due to work schedules and track in college, we dont always get to. This year I took a holiday I had saved up and took the trip down leaving shortly after 6am. Memories of past IHSAA state finals that we attended came back to mind.
1. The best memory was the first state final I went to. 1990, the first year that the finals were held at the RCA Dome (rest in peace). It was Damon Bailey and Bedford North Lawrence Stars vs. the Concord Minutemen. At this time i didnt care that Bailey was going to Indiana, I wanted Concord to win just because it was a local team. Well Bedford won, due to the outstanding performance of Bailey and his 30 pts. Largest crowd to witness a high school game. It was unreal.

2. The second woud be Clay vs. Valpo ending with a game winning shot by a future Purdue player who shall remain nameless because of the sins that he compited by going to Purdue
3.Luke Zellers half court shot against Plymouth to win the class 3A state that year. What a shot was after Plymouh nailed a 3 to take the lead.

Then this year was the 3A title game featuring Rochester and Princeton. Rochesters Bruce Grimm scored 40 points and sent the game into overtime by hitting a huge 3 at the buzzer. The game went into double overtime before Princeton pulled out the win. Rochester made a record 14 3's in this game and Grimm finished with 40 points.

The last two mentioned games were great and had alot of suspence.
However all this being said, I still want one class basketball back in Indiana!!!

Today in History

1822 Florida became a U.S. territory.
1867 Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal roundly ridiculed as "Seward's Folly."
1870 The 15th amendment to the Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, was declared in effect.
1964 The TV game show "Jeopardy!" premiered on NBC.
1999 A jury in Portland, Ore., ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades.
2008 President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington National's new stadium, Nationals Park.

Today in History

1939 Oregon won the first NCAA men's basketball tournament with a 46-33 victory over Ohio State in Evanston, Ill.
1989 - Sport Illustrated exposed Pete Rose's gambling activities. The magazine article alleged Rose bet on baseball from the Riverfront dugout using hand gestures with an associate.
1994 - Magic Johnson became head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. He coached the final 16 games of the 1993-4 season.
1997 Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King Jr., met with James Earl Ray, the man in prison for the assassination of the civil rights leader. Ray denied having anything to do with the shooting, to which King replied, "I believe you."
2006 Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified at his federal trial that he was supposed to hijack a fifth airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, and fly it into the White House.
2007 - NFL owners voted 30-2 to make the video replay system a permanent officiating tool.

My letter of Resignation

It's that time of year people. time to get ready for baseball season. With that being said I would like to thank the fine people at http://www.cubby-blue.com for preparing my letter of resignation. Hopefully Bashor will take me back in late October after the celebration is over with.

Obama's Special Olympics

Here are Obabma's comments about his bowling game and more. YOu know if this was a republican, the media would be going mad over this. Also, with him still campaining, I am shocked he has been at the White House to go bowling and play basketball. With all the traveling he has done, it is no wonder the country is strugeling financially.

Today in History

1918 Germany launched the Somme offensive during World War I, hoping to break through the Allied line before American reinforcements could arrive.
1945 Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany during World War II.
1963 Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates.
1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.
1994 - Michael Jordan was cut from the White Sox roster and was sent to their minor league club.
2005 Armed with a new law rushed through Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube re-inserted. (The judge later refused.)