Doug and I were supposed to do the 5 mile Day Kimball Deary Memorial Road Walk/Race together on 8/14/2010. Instead, Team Z joined forces to do it on his behalf.

Notice what looks like a Z in the clouds. What does it mean???? For some reason the photos below are stretched out horizontally - we are all MUCH more slender than we appear, especially after walking 5 miles!

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Today was the Kathy Deary Memorial Walk/Race. It is a breast cancer benefit. Doug ran it most years unless he was injured or we were out of town.

He did pretty well a few years ago even though he was totally hung over. We had gone to see a Giants/Patriots preseason game the night before. (He got plastered and spilled a beer on someone who almost punched him out.)

Another year, he wasn't the first finisher in the race, but was proud to be the first runner in the BAR afterwards. To get there, he and Dirk had to step over a dehydrated elite runner being tended to by medics.

This year, Doug was going to walk it with his arm duct-taped to his body (for 8 weeks after planned shoulder surgery for repeated dislocations.) He asked me to do it with him. I had been looking forward to it. I watched all his races over the decades, and waited for him at the finish line, but had never gone on one together with him.

Due to the change in plans (and every other plan I had made with Doug), I asked a bunch of friends to join me in "Team Z" to do the 5 miles together. None of them had ever done a walk during a race before. Kim (friend since 7th grade) came down from NH, Simone (friend since college) came out from North Granby, and Lisa and & Jeff; Bob, Ellie and Kate; and Jennifer, Emily, Robbie and Elijah of Woodstock joined us. Keith (Woodstock neighbor) had run the Woodstock Memorial 10K race with Doug, and he ran this race also.

At the opening, a woman sang "You'll never walk alone." (Listen to Renee Fleming singing it.) Of course I started bawling.

The weather was beautiful. The time and miles flew by as we walked and talked. I wore my new double rainbow "What does it mean?" shirt. Bob wore a shirt that said "lime disease" - he is a gin & tonic man.

I cried as we went up the last hill. I was thinking how Doug always told me there would be no hills on our walks/hikes, or after each hill, he would say "it's all downhill from here!" to encourage me, even though it was almost always a lie.

One runner yakked five times in the chute after he crossed the finish line (he was not a member of Team Z.)

I was impressed and amazed that every single one of us made it the whole five miles. Bob said he was channeling Doug when he got near the end and decided to run the last part so he could beat Ellie to the finish line.

I'm really glad we did it. I was so proud of Team Z! Kim said Doug would have been proud of us too.

08/14/2010

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