"There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do."– Freya Stark
Last Friday, Secretariat, and I headed for Carrie’s place in Tiburon. We had dinner in San Rafael, at an Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, even though Secretariat’s mother and family is Italian, he can only gesture. He is unable to speak a word of Italian. As a result, we had to order, from the menu, in English. After dinner, we arrived at her place before she returned from work in San Francisco. She had her dinner and then we all had desert, which included peach pie and ice cream.
Early Saturday morning, after oatmeal, fruit, tea, and peanut butter, we headed for Stinson beach. We arrived in plenty of time, and parked in the parking lot. We noticed there was a large group of runners milling around. We soon found out why. There was a rumor going around that the race had been canceled? Secretariat called home to find out if we had received an e-mail about the cancellation. Sure enough, I did. A little while later, the race director appeared and told the running group a sad story about the particulars of why the race was canceled. Secretariat’s motivational drive dropped rapidly.
Race Day shirts were handed out along with goodies for the run. Although there were no trail markings, we decided to start off with our own run, along with many others. The first part of this trail run is on the Dipsea trail. We navigated many steps going up the mountain and then took another trail that was ruddy, narrow, and rocky with very lush surroundings. I have to chuckle because there is one part on the trail where we have to use a ladder to reach the adjoining part of the trail. Secretariat got in front and then waited for me at the parking lot, which would have been an aid station. We talked about which trail to take and because, in part because he was bummed out, we decided to take the 12 K. loop back. Once on that trail, we passed many hikers and proceeded for a couple miles until the trail became unclear. I took the lead and followed this one path and then proceeded to slip, slide and fall down frequently in the process. My butt got dirty, my socks got dirty, my handheld water bottles got dirty, and my shirt got dirty as well. After laughing and ducking underneath trees, we eventually reached the correct trail. At that point, I decided to walk the rest of the way, since I was concerned that I might have pulled a muscle in the process.
Once back at the beach, we cleaned up and headed for The Depot in Mill Valley to have lunch and drop off two more books for distribution. While there, talking to the store employees, who other than the Dipsea legend walks in, with his wife? Russ Kiernan was there in downtown Mill Valley for a ribbon-cutting Dipsea ceremony. Incidentally, Russ is Chapter 4 in “It Has Nothing To Do With Age.”
That was the first time that I had entered a running race that had been canceled. Hopefully, it is the last. All in all, I enjoyed, hanging out with Secretariat, staying with Carrie, meeting up with Russ, and running in beautiful Mill Valley at Stinson Beach. What a life!
Book signing November 26 from 12:00- 2:00 PM at Placer Farm Supply. Phone (916)663-3741
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