We sat along the north side of the long, polished bar of First Street Pub, some of us still suffering from a hard Wednesday evening version of “The Hill Loop,” including the Robinhood Road add on, cold 16 oz glasses of Red Oak Beer in our hands. Playful banter from the group rose above the rest of the steady din ...

Editor’s Note: This article was edited to substitute <blank> in place of the original word used in the article.  Readers are invited to use a word of their choosing each time <blank> occurs in this article.I was standing at the finish line of the South Mountains Half Marathon Trail race, waiting for my wife to finish what I would consider ...

Two days post “race” and I sit here, very delicately, leaning a little to one side on my posterior muscle, and thinking “well, it could have been a lot worse!” Oh, it was a challenge all right, this 50-miler at Umstead Park on April 5th, 2025.  Easy course (as far as 50/100 milers go), great volunteers, excellent food and aid ...

January 4, 2023. We were cruising along at 35,000 feet over the ocean. It was night and the entire plane was asleep.I nudged Sheryl awake and whispered, “Honey, what do you say we do it right here?!”She rubbed her eyes a little and gave me an incredulous look – “What?” she said. “Are you crazy?  People will see us!”I shook ...