Wept For My Daddyo

At the risk of bad Mexican food I'm about to repeat myself,but after all the cock ups that transpired last week by sitting out last Monday I was deternined to kick this week off w/ an easy 8 miler like I usually do,last week underlined the fact that missing a Monday run can and often will begin your week behind the proverbial eight ball.....I'll take an eight miler over the eight ball anytime proving I'm a runner and not a drug fiend I hope!!!!!

There was still a knock on effect from Saturdays proverbial runaround all my criss crossing Philly in search of a track to do my repeats had eaten into my down time to the point that hitting the grocery store fell by the wayside and following Sundays long run and watching the London Marathon I wasn't in the mood to trawl the isles of the nearby supermarket so I hit Supreme on the way home from work which meant gettting a slightly later start than normal,in the general scheme of things not an issue.....missing two track repeats last week now that's an issue but when accessing a track becomes as easy as going to the supermarket I guess I'll be a happy camper!!!!
The eight miler was run of the mill,an easy run in light of tomorrow being{hopefully!!!!!} repeats but while making my way out to the 1 mile marker along Kelly Drive where I turnaround for an 8 mile run I was not for the first,nor tthe last time reminded where all this began.............

I always say my running career has been a trilogy,the most recent chapter beginning in 2001 after 5 and a 1/2 year hiatus from running I got back into it and haven't looked back,from Nov 01 thro Nov 05 I added 9 more marathons to my resume b4 returning to my first love track,which is the second part of the trilogy from a high school freshman in 76 through 96 I had 20 years of highs and lows starting off as a 400m/800m runner on the track to eventually running my first marathon in 85 and then enjoying a reasonably successful road racing career till 96 when I stepped away from the sport,I never said I'd quit,or hung up my running shoes I just didn't have the fire in my soul that you need to have if your willing to commit wholheatedly to the game.
So where did it all start then?....easy,on a rainswept road in Ireland way back in August of 72 3 months b4 I turned 9 years old.
The cliff notes version of this tale is I was on vaction in Ireland and I got invited to b'day party of a school friend of my cousins and kids being kids we lost track of time,my father Kevin took it upon himself to fetch us from the house where the party took place,some 5-6 miles from where my aunt lived in Berrings Co Cork,it was late at nite,pitch black dark{no street lights this was rural country living} and pissing down w/ rain,my father NOT a man known for his patience at the best of times made it painfully clear to both my cousin Liam and I we were going to run all the way home and if we thought about stopping to walk one of two things would happen..... a swish of his shoe towards our backsides follwed by a crack of the towel he had around his neck to keep the driving rain at bay also aimed at out derrieres.....he wasn't joking as the first sign of either of us slowing down was greeted w/ the crack of the towel and the  swing of his foot at our arses!!!!

I don't know if there is,was a world record for a not quite 9 year old running 5 maybe 6 miles back in 1972 but I'm reasonably confident I held it that night and that my friends is where the origins of Kevinrunningfree began,and since Monday would have been Kevin's 81st b'day were he still alive I thought it prudent to dust off that tale,b4 he died suddenly almost 30 years ago  that infamous night was often laughed and joked about over a few pints of the hard stuff,my first coach,my late Father Kevin,God bless you thanks to you I'm still running and always in  fear of that size nine shoe and wet towel in my backside if I slow down or stop!!!