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(Why is it that whenever a video cuts to a shot from within the recording, it always picks the frame where I look like a complete idiot?)
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Things that didn’t get into the videos: I came in 232nd in a field of 570-some runners, and 8th out of 36 in my age group. Karen, the friend who ran as well, was great fun to hang out with before and afterward, and I’m looking forward to doing more local races with her in the coming year. Sam was mildly impressed by my medal, but Gabe was disappointed that it wasn’t “golden.” 
(Telling him that even the first-place medals didn’t look gold didn’t make it better.) So, that’s two medals for age-group finishes in 2008! I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself at this point, and I hope my performance continues to improve in the new year.
Tonight we’ll celebrate the end of the year with the bottle of champagne and snack-type foods, and it’ll be that weird, anticlimactic experience that New Year’s is when you’re anywhere outside of the eastern time zone and not in a place that makes up for the delay. “Yay, the ball dropped!…we have another hour to kill. Um, anybody for Trivial Pursuit?” Happy New Year, everyone. 
I’ve never lived anywhere but on the east coast for when the ball drops. And mostly, I’m pretty close to the “ball” when it drops. How weird it must be to not be nearby! Are there any local celebrations to ring in the new year?
GRATS on your tremendous run today!!