Southern Charm and Pearls: Operation One Voice SOF Run - Day 3

Well, Day 3 (11/9) dawned and again, we were blessed with a beautiful day! Not only were we given a beautiful day, we had time to have breakfast... a real breakfast, not just a snack bar or a beer (what, that isn't breakfast food? kidding...sort of). Anyway, it was quite nice that we got to sit down, as a team, enjoy food, laughs and each other's company before we formed up to run to the Florida Capitol.

We were joined by our fellow Operation One Voice Member and former team-member Mike Terhune (can't wait until he joins us again next year!). We had an amazing escort of police (thanks Gavin & Jordan) and fire (thanks Mike & Bob). We met up in a parking lot a bit away from the Capitol and had a chance to stretch and kill some time... Well, you know me... Last year, Mike arranged for me to be able to slide down the firepole at the station... this year, they let me push the button to turn on the lights and siren (I know, they also let first graders do that, but to me it was a BIG deal). And then... I was allowed to climb up into the basket... um, yes, if you are asking yourself "How awesome was that?" the answer is *AWESOME!!!!* (the pic is below). My year was totally made! Way to go TFD.

We then ran into the Florida Capitol which is apparently known for being a unique shape...don't ask... anyway, members of the team were asked for interviews, which were gladly given and then we all hopped on the Budweiser / Eagle Rock 1 Bus and headed to Walmart, because what else are you going to do when you are riding on a Budweiser bus with Special Operations Forces? My thoughts exactly... thus we all went inside, utilized the facilities (Thank you Walmart!) and got the stuff for the shrimp boil that night (OOV tradition!). Of course, being the planners that we are... we sort of forgot about the time and then realized that we had to be up the road... in a hurry! This happens every year and every year we are shocked by it! Anyway, the plan was to do a group run with selected persons for a bit... well, we realized that we also needed someone to drive the minivan while Bill, Laird, Tom, Steve, Chris and Joe were running... thus, I rode with JR, Matt and Steve D. in the Duluth PD truck! I'm not going to lie, while we were driving (aka hurrying) down the road, we had a karaoke dance party in the Police truck... if that is a sentence you never thought you would hear, trust me that is one I never thought I would say! But we had a blast singing, laughing and just goofing off!

Thus, we all had our chance to run that day (the heat by then had started taking a toll). After running, we started congregating at the hotel we were to spend the night at. Laird, Keith and Ben started firing up the pan and we started cutting bread, having some beers, gossiping and having a good old time. The shrimp went in with some garlic, olive oil, butter and lemon juice! Were they delicious! Thank you Laird, Keith & Ben! Well, we were all enjoying some (several) beers, some Jack Daniels, and some shrimp when someone started doing the math (don't you hate when that happens?). Well, we had one runner out on the road and we were about 30 minutes away from him stopping and we were out of "fresh legs on the ground"... thus I volunteered myself (in retrospect, not my smartest decision) to run again for a bit... If ever you are wondering what the wonder food of running is, I can't tell you that, but I can tell you what it is not... beer (lots of it), shrimp and whiskey. Thus, I hitched a ride out to Randy who was running and the police truck, told them my *brilliant plan*, they laughed, asked if I was kidding (at this point I'm still thinking it was a good idea), and I stretched and started running... Well, according to my Garmin watch I did another 13.5 miles that night on beer, shrimp and whiskey. While it didn't feel very good, I had great support from Steve D. & Matt B. in the Police truck! They kept me hydrated and pumped up with some awesome tunes! It was also really nice to just "Forrest Gump" it...outside... at night and have time to really reflect on why we were running.

When my run was finished I headed back to the hotel, found my room, showered and rested up for the next day! Stay tuned for Day 4 - MacDill AFB, Happy Birthday Marine Corps, Yuengling Brewery, and Tiki Hut!

Until We Meet Again,
JCP

Our amazing support team in Tallahassee! Thanks, guys!

Yes... that is me... in a Fire Engine Basket.... who's excited oh that would be me!!!

Group Run - Tom, Bill, Chris, Steve, Joe and Laird

Group Run


More running... it was at the gas station that we were chilling at that we saw ridiculous amounts of camo... I saw a 2 month old in camo... seriously, a 2 month old? Come on now...