My line…
96 Sam Spritzer 53 23:16 7:30 18/51 M50-54 M# 87 Williamsville NY
97 Anthony Garrow 52 23:17 7:30 19/51 M50-54 M# 88 N. Tonawanda NY

And no, #97 is not Steph nor is Anthony my wife….but this is truly an inspirational story.

Anthony is #124 on the right. By medical definition, he isn’t even suppose to be running. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma a couple of years ago and underwent a series of potent chemotherapy cocktails. Thus far, he is in remission….by the grace of God, the nicest person you could have for a friend is not only running COMPETITIVELY, but is getting ready to kick my a$$, as you can see. He went from 4 races a year ago to 18 this year. His times have gone from the 26s to the 22s this year…an improvement of over 3 minutes. THIS MAN WASN’T EVEN SUPPOSE TO BE RUNNING AND…..if I don’t get my butt moving, I am going to be his next dead rabbit!

Anyway, as you can see, the race was run on a snowy cold day with about an inch of that white powdered stuff on the ground making for some really treacherous running. The race started at the intersection of Main St and W. Humboldt Parkway, in front of the bus stop. It proceeded down Main to right on W. Delavan before entering the Forest Lawn Cemetery for a little over 2 miles of gentle rolling hills. The exit was a hard left back onto Main St. with a quick 100 yard dash to the finish line.

Now for a little secret…the hard left back onto Main St. was with the assistance of an “unknown” spectator. Anthony cut to my inside and was in front of me at the turn. I was prepared to turn wide because of the poor footing. Well…as I was turning, I realized that I was not going to make the turn without running into a police car nor have enough room for a final kick without throwing myself into the traffic. But because of the “unknown” spectator, I was able to bounce/push off and propel myself past Anthony to finish ahead of him by one second. Thanks “Big” Mike…I owe you one!

Oh on another note, a GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Dominique, my son Mike’s girlfriend!