Despite
having run probably hundreds of races in my day, there’s little
pictorial evidence of my participation. My philosophy regarding
photography borrows from the Most Interesting Man In the World: I don’t
appear in a lot of photos, but when I do, they’re usually pretty
terrible. That’s especially true of running photos. I still haven’t
forgiven my parents for using a cross country race photo of me as a
family Christmas card back in high school. (I’m not kidding.)
I
did, however, manage to find a whopping four pictures of me caught in
the act of running or participating in running-related activities. (This
is compared to approximately 765 pictures of my cats caught in the act
of not doing a damn thing.)
This
one’s from a rainy 3-mile race at the West Suburban YMCA (Newton,
Mass.) in the spring of 2009. Conveniently, the clock blocks my head:
This one’s from the 2009 Providence Marathon. I finished in 3:16, which I’d completely forgotten until I looked it up. I mostly remember the post-race pizza:
The
topic was Boston Marathon training in the aftermath of inclement
weather. I don’t know if it’s better or worse for my cause that I was
the only person interviewed for the story not actually running the
marathon and therefore slipping and sliding on the sidewalk just for the
hell of it. (Speaking of slipping and sliding, the news segment has
some amazing B roll of yours truly doing just that, roughly 40 seconds
in. It’s thrilling television.)
Last but not least, here I am wolfing down a banana after the 2010 Boston Prep 16 Miler. (Photo has been cropped to protect the innocent.)
So
there you have it. I’m not just the guy sticking his head in a
fossilized hippopotamus skull -- I’m also the guy who could be Ichabod
Crane, who makes angry faces crossing the finish line, who likes to
mumble semi-coherently while wearing 15-year-old hooded sweatshirts, and
who likes to eat bananas.
Even though that’s only four photos, I think they explain who I am quite well.
