When: Saturday, February 06, 2010 7:45 AM-11:15 AM. Central Standard Time
Where: Jenks River Walk
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Where: Jenks River Walk
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This Saturday's 18 mile run will be one of those milestone events, cause once you run 18 miles then you are eligible to vote on future run routes. 
And just to make it more lifelike, the privilege of voting is not accompanied by any hope of actually influencing the outcome in any way. Just like inside the DC Beltway, all the power for selecting our run routes is held in the hands of a select few, with all the rest of us, just like Congress, being included for comic relief. Oh sure, we can make a lot of noise, do some grand gesturing, and walk around with our chests all puffed out (actually that part is the intermittent breathing/heaving that you do involuntarily after running a "slow run" with Tatur Dave - you know, the kind where he says he'll let you set the pace and all of a sudden you find yourself lurching along the trail at speeds you didn't think were possible), but in reality it's just part of the great charade.
And just to make it more lifelike, the privilege of voting is not accompanied by any hope of actually influencing the outcome in any way. Just like inside the DC Beltway, all the power for selecting our run routes is held in the hands of a select few, with all the rest of us, just like Congress, being included for comic relief. Oh sure, we can make a lot of noise, do some grand gesturing, and walk around with our chests all puffed out (actually that part is the intermittent breathing/heaving that you do involuntarily after running a "slow run" with Tatur Dave - you know, the kind where he says he'll let you set the pace and all of a sudden you find yourself lurching along the trail at speeds you didn't think were possible), but in reality it's just part of the great charade.This is enough to get us Dom-N-8rz a bit steamed under the winter muffler. And what makes matters even worse is that the reality is that the weekly selected routes are just so darn good that we feel guilty even complaining. Oh well, it's in our jeans (I know - couldn't resist), it's what we do - let's just say it's the principle of the thing that we're standing firm on - or is that the snow, the ice, the slush - the thing that the really cool people refer to as "Snish".
Saturday's route consists of a 4 mile loop through Jenks, followed by a quick run to Tulsa's River Park Trails, then an out an back on the Creek Turnpike Trail, and a trip back across the Arkansas River to the Jenks starting point. The final tally consists of 1 bedside community, an acclaimed Aquarium, a hip-hop-happening riverside shopping/dining/entertainment center, some athletic fields, street running, trail running, fording a raging river (twice) big enough to have an entire state named after it, a trip to a major benefactor's park, running into and out of one of America's largest cities - one that is so big that it can't pay all it's bills, runs along over and around an interstate turnpike, is complete with hills as well as flats, curves and straight aways, and a bald eagle roosted on a telephone pole. And one more thing, the weather promises to be different than right now. Mix in a liberal dose of cabin fevered runners, a strategically routed bathroom or two, and in total we have the recipe for a fantastic run. Plus, remember, afterwards we will each be eligible to vote with all the privileges that brings. Heck, think of it as a dream coming true for all who have wished for "If I could only be/run 18 again, only knowing what I know now, how much different it would be than the first time through".
Remember: NOT VETERAN"S PARK - Yes to Jenks River Walk (parking on west side of 96th Street bridge.
Time: 7:45 AM-ish, although this would be a good weekend to get your rear in gear a little earlier to make sure you arrive at our new ultra cool starting place in time to take in the surroundings, get your bearings, and trade lies with your co-runners.
Larry
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