Thurday night we ran in an event that's a long standing Christmas tradition in Tulsa. The Marvelite run, hosted by All SOuls Unitarian Church, had over 200 runners this year who ventured out into the cool night air for 3-6 miles of fellowshipo and sight-seeing. 
Christmas hats and costumes were the attire of the night.
Ahem...Santa, you're not fooling anyone. But you really should grow the beard back.We divided into several groups based on pace and distance, and it seemed every group had 40 or more runners.
The Maple Ridge and Utica Square area, some of the older historic neighborhoods in Tulsa usually has some of the best light displays to be seen.
After our run, we came back to the fellowship hall and had pizza, Christmas cookies, pies, cakes, nuts, chips, sodas, and beer. (Yes, beer in a church building. I like that!)
It was good to hang out with old friends. And new friends.
We were priviledged to have Jack Wing speak to us as we munched. Jack is a cancer survivor, and a honored fixture in the Tulsa running community.
And the history of the Marvelite Run was told. Seems that one Marvin Winters had a group of runners who ran on weeknights. (It was alledged that he only ran with women--the old fox!) Around Christmas every year, they decided to run through the Maple Ridge area to enjoy the Christmas lights. The yearly diversion gradually tuirned into an event, drawing 30 then 50, then 100 and more runners each year.
Marvin sit and listened to the tales as they were dished out. He did not protest too much, and I am betting most of the tales were true!! Marvin happens to be one amazing man. He is an inspiration to every runner he comes in contact with. It has been a goal of Marvins to finish the job of running a marathon in all 50 states, and this past November, he added North Carolina to his list of states and completed his quest. Most people in the world never even run ONE marathon, but Marvin has one in every state. His next goal is to get his total to a nice round 100. That's 100 marathons--quite the milestone. Can't think of a better guy top do it. It was a fun night--a good run, good food, and great friends. What a great Christmas gift!
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