A Lone Striker, by Robert Frost

The swinging mill bell changed its rate
To tolling like the count of fate,
And though at that the tardy ran,
One failed to make the closing gate.
There was a law of God or man
That on the one who came too late
The gate for half an hour be locked,
His time be lost, his pittance docked.
He stood rebuked and unemployed.
The straining mill began to shake.
The mill, though many-many-eyed,
Had eyes inscrutably opaque;
So that he couldn’t look inside
To see if some forlorn machine
Was standing idle for his sake.
(He couldn’t hope its heart would break.)

And yet he thought he saw the scene:
The air was full of dust of wool.
A thousand yarns were under pull,
But pull so slow, with such a twist,
All day from spool to lesser spool,
It seldom overtaxed their strength;
They safely grew in slender length.
And if one broke by any chance,
The spinner saw it at a glance.
The spinner still was there to spin.
That’s where the human still came in.
Her deft hand showed with finger rings
Among the harplike spread of strings.
She caught the pieces end to end
And, with a touch that never missed,
Not so much tied as made them blend.
Man’s ingenuity was good.
He saw it plainly where he stood,
Yet found it easy to resist.

He knew another place, a wood,
And in it, tall as trees, were cliffs;
And if he stood on one of these,
‘Twould be among the tops of trees,
Their upper branches round him wreathing,
Their breathing mingled with his breathing.
If—if he stood! Enough of ifs!
He knew a path that wanted walking;
He knew a spring that wanted drinking;
A thought that wanted further thinking;
A love that wanted re-renewing.
Nor was this just a way of talking
To save him the expense of doing.
With him it boded action, deed.

The factory was very fine;
He wished it all the modern speed.
Yet, after all, ‘twas not divine,
That is to say, ‘twas not a church.
He never would assume that he’d
Be any institution’s need.
But he said then and still would say,
If there should ever come a day
When industry seemed like to die
Because he left it in the lurch,
Or even merely seemed to pine
For want of his approval, why,
Come get him—they knew where to search.

The full article on the Nature News web site is here.

This post really was sent in by Booman!

Man has been running from the beginning of time, when survival depended on swiftness of foot. Today, in our technological age, running for most people is optional. Men and women choose to run for multiple reasons, including health, fitness, competition, stress release, and fun. Those select few who choose to run ultramarathons are a special breed. Why? Because they choose to accomplish something that is beyond the grasp of most people.

Read more

The date for this years Jingle Bell Run is December 19, meeting in Branford across from Soundrunner and Common Grounds at 8 am. This is usually the last large group run of the year and everyone is encouraged to wear something red and something that jingles. The run will head into the Supply Pond preserve and who knows we may discover elves serving warm cider deep within the woods. Last year the weather provided perfect seasonal weather, will we be as lucky again?

You can check out pictures from last year here

The 3rd annual Pews (wave hand and make face) Award Ceremony was yet another outstanding success, yet not one feat of running was acknowledged, except perhaps the unselfish act of pacing. Pews (more waving of hand and grimaced expression) are giving to recognize contributions of other things, such as writing about running or being a key player in some memorable event during the year. Each award is unique and therefore highly coveted. When the awards committee say Pew (and wave they hands in front of their face) you know you’ve done something special!  Thank you Iggy, Oddjob, Allstate and Forrest for hosting the fun and congratulations to Suds, recipient of the Doctor Von Award.

Sunday November 15th @ 5:30

The Pews will be held at Anthony’s -

but this year we have “the big room”…

Pizza buffett and salad with a cash bar!

So I need an idea of how many Bimblers

can make it to our annual awards!!

Please let me know if you can or can not

attend as you may  be receiving a trophy or worse!! Thanks IGGY

I’m out in Las Cruces, NM for a few days on business but this afternoon I had a couple of hours to explore trails to the east of the city. With temperatures in the mid seventies and bright sunshine, I found a remote trail head that I had read about on the web. It was down a dusty dusty dirt road and the trail snaked off across the scrub towards mountains in the distance. I ran towards them but didn’t quite make it to their base. On the way though I took a few pictures of the views and vegetation which were quite spectacular. On the drive out I also snapped a field of chilies and cotton that looked almost ready for harvest – I hadn’t seen cotton growing before.  The world’s largest pecan orchard is also in this region.

The rest of the pictures are here.

My first memory of Diana was at Breakneck last year. I don’t believe Shelly Girl and I really knew Elaine at that time, but we both have a very clear memory of completing the race and being confronted ( in a nice way) by this lady who was looking for her friend. It seems they had missed each other out on the course and this lady, Diana, was very concerned that she had let her friend (Elaine) down. After speaking with Loopy on the bite of the bluff today, I am beginning to realize that this is the attitude all crews take. They all seem to have a burning desire to help their runner meet their goal and will do whatever they can to help. Loopy was telling me how stressful crewing can be and how everyone felt this strong sense of obligation to the boys at Iroquois. After seeing Diana at Breakneck,  I believe it!

At Curly’s this year I was fortunate to get a small sense of how important a crew can be to a runner. Diana was everywhere that day. I must have seen her smiling, cheering, supporting face half a dozen times during the run. In addition to helping Elaine she took stuff for the rest of us as well.  Whether to grab some food add a nuun tablet to my water or just to have someone cheering for me she was always a welcome site. It was awesome.

In addition to her help, I also think about how long Diana, and everyone who crews, must be out there waiting for their runners. Crewing seems like a truly selfless act but I imagine, like all selfless acts, those who crew also get much in return. Crewing is the ultimate good deed and that always is nourishing to the soul.

So to Diana at Curley’s, all those who crewed Jerry through the slam, or the boys at Iroquois, everyone at Vermont and on and on, your runners are grateful and you represent the best of trail runners. I hope one day soon Shelly Girl and I will be able to join your ranks!

The Iroquios 100 pre-race reading………

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They raced across the start clean out of sight,
You do have to question if they’re really that bright,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
A quick pace to begin really isn’t quite right,
It will leave them calling for Mommy in the night,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after a pacer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a peanut butter knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They ran all day and into the night,
Eating Gu and tripping cause of dim LED lights,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They ran up a side trail with all of their might,
The Gu hadn’t worked now their stomachs were light,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They ran into aid stations for drink and a bite,
The look in their eyes gave everyone a fright,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They ran across the line with egos at height,
The accomplishment was something they clearly got right,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?