I’ve written about making and using running paths in my front yard in the past, but there’s a sea of yellow flowers, so I’ve put a moratorium on front yard running to preserve the lovely scene. The rabbitbrush blossoms attract tons of bees, and despite little threat of being stung because of their docility, I want to be considerate of their pollen gathering.
Speaking of bees, a couple times I’ve been walking and suddenly heard, but couldn’t see, a swarm. It alarmed me until I realized it wasn’t a swarm – someone nearby was flying a drone.
Toward the end of summer, I interrupted my running routine by doing a couple backpacking trips of five days each in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon. A friend, Erik Smith, joined me for a couple days.
Mt. Sentinel at left, from Polaris Pass. Photo by Erik Smith
In the below photo, I’m atop Aneroid Mountain, the 9th highest peak in Oregon at 9,702 ft (2,957 m).
On my second trip I made a base camp at Chimney Lake, pictured below, and did day hikes.
I came across an old mining adit near John Henry Lake. I hadn’t planned on spelunking, but I had a headlamp in my backpack.
It’s well known that monsters hang out in dark places, like closets and caves, so I paused at the entrance. I heard growls and snarls deep inside. I really wanted to go in, but I wasn’t packing monster spray. You’d think bear spray would work, but it doesn’t—monsters like spiciness. I also didn’t want to be featured in the news story, “Hiker Roughed up by Monsters at Bottom of Cave.” I passed on the spelunking opportunity.
A couple months ago, I added to my writing workload by starting a Threads account, Meta’s equivalent of Twitter/X. The intent is the same as I Must Run Everywhere—to express my sense of humor.
The posts are short—one to three sentences, occasionally longer, and I only do a post when I’ve come up with something I consider sufficiently amusing, which so far is about twice a week. Here are a couple I’ve done recently:
It’s not just people who have ulterior motives. Drove to Mt. Spokane to pick huckleberries. I slowed down for a deer at the roadside, then watched in the rearview mirror as the car behind me stopped and waited and waited in vain for it to cross. Kudos to me not falling for that deer’s mind games.
On this day from the Family Conflict Archive: Told 10yo she committed a big mess and sent to Mom. 10yo’s adept at small word changes that make a big difference. Wife blew up at me for asking 10yo to make a big mess commitment.
If you’re interested in a possible chuckle with minimal time investment, you’ll find this site at threads.net/@boxman.in.Spokane.
It’s long been said running is good for you and can add years to life expectancy; however, it doesn’t always work out that way.
The past few years, longtime runners I knew or knew of died early. When I say early, they made it to retirement age or close to it, but died of disease short of the average life expectancy for Americans (74.8 yrs for men; 80.2 for women). These runners not only didn’t add years to their lives, years got taken off.
(Before moving on, how about a macabre photo to match the topic of this post.)
Photo by Ken Yates
I used to have a copy of “The Complete Book of Running”, written in 1977 by Jim Fixx, who became famous for his running knowledge and promoting its health benefits. Most longtime runners know Jim Fixx died of a heart attack, (while running, at age 52).
Jim Fixx had a congenitally-enlarged heart, and an early death by heart attack ran in his family. Longtime runners who die early could be genetically pre-disposed, thus running may lengthen life only a little, or not at all.
I brought up this topic with a few acquaintances in the running groups I join. We agree it’s not unheard of for runners to experience heart problems as they age. This seems so unfair. It’s like sticking to a low-fat diet and then finding out you have clogged arteries and need heart surgery. Or avoiding sun exposure and always using sunscreen, then getting skin cancer.
I found I needed a little reassurance as I assumed my diet and physical activity would be a strong antidote to age-related disease.
I found a couple reviews of a bunch of studies on the impact of running (Done by Harvard Health and Spring Link, respectively) that shows regular, moderate running has many benefits, including a longer life. On the other hand, UER (ultra-endurance running), increases chances of long-term health problems, including cardiovascular disease, though overall, health outcomes are better than non-runners.
This issue comes about because I’ve reached the point in my life that the end of it is not so far off. Age-related conditions come about that you never consider when younger. I think it’s natural to contemplate how things will go in the latter part of one’s life and strive to make it as pleasant as possible.
Talking with Jim Hoppe, a veteran of Spokane running clubs. Photo by Dominic Bartoletta.
So, there’s really nothing more I can do. As I’ve written before, I don’t necessarily want to live a long life, but while I’m alive, I’d like to be healthy and active.
The cemetery photo was taken by an acquaintance after a forest fire very close to Spokane last month. The headstones aren’t stained with blood, but fire retardant. Perhaps I can find hope by thinking of my situation the same way—worries about health problems are like red-stained headstones—appearances that are worse than they really are.
With the weather getting warmer, bugs are coming out. It’s motivated me to schedule a much anticipated lecture in which I talk about bugs I see while running.
Some readers may recall I gave such a lecture several years ago, and you may be wondering why I’ve waited so long to schedule another. I apologize for the wait. Though I know the names of common bugs, I have no idea what most are called. To make up for it, I’ll give very, very detailed descriptions. I’m also reserving time near the end of the five-hour event for participants to share their own bug sightings.
So start paying attention while you’re out running. Bug sightings can include just one bug or a whole swarm. I doesn’t matter if they’re airborne, scurrying about on the ground or just sitting there, motionless. Descriptions of dead bugs are also welcome.
Though I’ll limit my descriptions to sightings made only in the past year, I’m including information about the epic ant horde of 2022 that was so thick, you couldn’t see the corner of my sidewalk in my backyard.
I’ve reserved a large space as I expect interest for this event to be intense. I urge attendees to make reservations quickly to guarantee a seat.
I’m sure after watching the friendly invitation in the below video, you’ll rush to make arrangements to attend my big, can’t miss, bug lecture.
“Come to my bug lecture. You’ll find it interesting and exciting!”
In a post last year, Mysterious Animal in my Front Yard, I wrote about a creature that took up residence in my front yard. Even though many people don’t believe they exist, I’ve concluded the animal is Sasquatch, also known as Bigfoot.
My efforts to catch sight of the Sasquatch have failed over the months – until now. Last week I was doing a run on my front yard running paths when I collided with something that knocked me to the ground.
I couldn’t understand what happened because there was nothing in my path to collide with. When I looked back, I had the shock of my life. Standing not ten feet away was Sasquatch, glaring at me. My front yard cam captured the image below.
The stare down lasted but a moment – the Sasquatch darted away, and by the time I got to my feet, he had vanished. I was mystified how he could appear and then disappear so quickly. It’s like Sasquatch have magical powers. Unfortunately, he was just outside the viewing range of my front yard camera.
It’s hard keeping such an amazing experience to myself. However, when I tell others, I’m mystified yet again. You’d think my eye witness account would result in astonishment and follow up questions. Instead people laugh or act like I’m trying to pull a fast one on ’em.
In the below photo, my amazing Sasquatch experience is causing fellow members of the Manito Running Club, Madeline Reich and Mike Tonkyn, to laugh non-stop.
Madeline laughed so hard she got a stomach ache. I heard Mike laughing on and off the entire run.
I’ve been nicknamed Sasquatch Jim, and asked when I’m going to get to the bottom of other mysteries like the Loch Ness Monster and aliens. This infuriates me. How can I solve the Loch Ness monster mystery? I don’t live in Scotland. And why would Sasquatch Jim take on aliens? I have no reason to get involved with aliens unless I saw them living in my front yard.
If I happen to run into any of you readers, I’ll expect the utmost in respect and consideration as I tell my story. If not, Sasquatch Jim will get very, very, angry.
Used to be I didn’t carry any sort of device while running. However, because I really want to be a fancy boy, I’ve positioned myself at the forefront of a new trend – carrying binoculars while running. More about this in a minute.
A couple women once complimented me for not getting sucked into carrying a device that has GPS tracking. They told me sometimes the pleasure of running is lessened by giving so much attention to all the stats a device gives.
I had to deflect the compliment because the reason I don’t carry a device is that I lack initiative. Sometimes I am interested in the pace or how far it was, and I’ll ask someone I ran with who has one.
Usually, judging my pace and distance works for me, and I can often be pretty close. It’s only recently that I finally started using any kind of device – a headlamp for nighttime running.
In a post from earlier this year, How to Become a Really Slow Runner, I detailed how I’ve slowed down immensely. This is the real reason I run with binoculars—not because I’m trying to be a fancy boy.
When I’m unfamiliar with the route at a running club get-together, and I’ve fallen way behind everyone else, I can keep the group in sight. This prevents me from losing my way and becoming lost.
Several times over the past few weeks, I’ve been awoken in the middle of the night by an animal in my front yard grunting and making high-pitched howls.
I transformed my front yard from lawn to native vegetation about 15 years ago. I also made paths so that when I want to go for a run out in the country, I head to my front yard.
I really wanted wildlife in my front yard wilderness, so I hired a consultant, Ruby Redpepper. To evaluate its suitability, she used a cat-like animal native to South Africa that’s an indicator of habitat quality. To my delight, she explained that despite the small size of my yard, it’s so high-quality, a concentrated diversity of wildlife will thrive.
She was right. Over the years I added animals that she suggested. With binoculars in hand, I did a day-long hike hoping to find out what mysterious animal has made a home in my yard.
I was able to get photos of a few animals. I saw several deer. This one lives near my front porch.
I came across a marmot. He lives just outside my bedroom window.
A red-tail hawk has a nest in one of my pine trees. He’s often perched on an old TV antennae on my roof looking for a meal.
I saw a snake near the front curb.
Then I came across the remains of a rabbit. I knew just the person who could identify the predator that got it.
I guessed it was a coyote or fox, but after examining the photo, Ruby Redpepper said a very large and controversial animal did it, but refused to say what.
The remains and the middle-ot-the-night noises were still a mystery, along with why Ruby Redpepper declined to identify the predator. A few days later, I caught a glimpse from the corner of my eye and couldn’t believe what I saw. Searching further, I found evidence I was not imagining things.
This footprint is almost 3 times bigger than mine. Obviously it’s bigfoot. Apparently my front yard wilderness is such terrific habitat a bigfoot was drawn to it. But how did it find my yard?
Several days later, I got my answer when I came across this house less than a mile from mine. I’m guessing the population density got too high and one moved on.
I’d really like to observe my front yard Sasquatch. Like people who put up bird feeders to attract birds, I’m going to put up a Sasquatch feeder by my front window. I’m not sure what Sasquatch eat, but I bet they like fruit. I’ll start with that.
Most runners like to push themselves to get a good time or finish well. Very few choose to meander at a really, really, slow pace. It’s boring, and it takes a long time. If you’re in a race, finishing after the finish line fixtures have been taken down and nobody’s around is not appealing. Running extremely slow may appear comical to others. And if it’s cold, you can’t generate enough body heat to stay warm.
I’ve been exploring the nooks, crannies, and pits of being a slow runner, and I’m not even intentional about it. An unavoidable consequence of aging, I keep hoping I can overcome it and still be kinda fast, sometimes.
Some days, not only do I run slow, I have a hard time just running. There’s no injury, pain or fatigue from a recent workout. My age has caused my body to sometimes have a negative reaction to running. Almost always I do a warm-up before a running group run. Despite my very slow warm-up pace, the resistance can be so great, and I feel so lousy, I have to walk, hoping the break will help me feel better. This can happen multiple times during my warm-up. It’s especially bad on morning runs as I’m not a morning person.
Even after my warm-up, it’s not unusual during the group run for me to see someone running really slow, and it really strikes me how slow they’re going, yet they’re ahead of me and pulling away. It’s demoralizing.
Yet sometimes I can run at a decent pace for someone who’s 66 years old. This brings me hope my running can stay satisfying enough that I’ll continue to run. However, there have been times I felt so lousy that If it became the norm, I’d give up or drastically reduce my running.
On the plus side, I realized I’ve done enough slow running that I’ve become well-qualified to teach runners who want to learn how to run really slow. This has turned into a neat opportunity, and for the past several months I’ve been working on the most effective methods for teaching this skill. Now I’m ready to offer instruction.
If you’d like to enter my program, you’ll find there’s much more to running very slow than you’d imagined. Becoming proficient may cause you to happily dedicate yourself to lifelong slow running. However, after joining my program, you’ll be asked to work on a couple mental barriers that must be overcome. These are non-negotiable requirements:
An attitude often used when doing a job or task – I’m making good progress must be eliminated from your mindset and replaced with It’s hard to tell if I’m making any progress.
Doing something with the idea that it won’t take long must change to This is going to take a long, long time.
My program involves both in-class study and field work. Analyzing video is key. Below is one sample that both inspires participants and shows what’s possible by the end of the program.
MVI_2976
I contacted Washington State University, submitted my curriculum, and it has been accepted, and my course is certified. It will be offered at the WSU Spokane campus beginning next semester. For those of you interested in learning how to run really, really slow, I look forward to seeing you soon.
It’s been awhile since I Must Run Everywhere had a quiz. Sprint McDowell, former host of the quiz show Race to Win was the source of my previous quiz posts, but he had to resign in disgrace. Sprint is pictured below after receiving news his improprieties had become known.
So I’ll come up with the questions and the topic is Spokane Running Clubs. Readers who live out of the area may feel disadvantaged because you live out of the area. However, like Sprint McDowell use to do, I’ll embed clues in the questions to give you outside individualists a chance to win a gold star.
Good luck~ I hope all of you finish in a tie for first!
Question 1 – Name the granddaddy of all Spokane running clubs that was started by a guy named Peter in 2006 and has spawned a bunch of other running clubs over the years.
A.) Acme Running Club
B.) A-1 Running and Fitness
C.) ABC Running Club
D). Flying Irish
Question 2 – Ben Bersagel started a group in 2016 that meets Wednesday evenings at the below location in downtown Spokane. Name this running group.
A.) Brick Building Running Group
B.) The Bersagel Running Co-op.
C.) Iron Goat Running Club
Question 3 – Aric Trantum started the Beer and Blisters Running Club that meets Sunday mornings for a 10-mile run. How did he come up with the name Beer and Blisters?
A.) It’s a truncated version of the meet up location, a coffee shop/bakery named, oddly, Bread, Brownies, Bagels, Beer and Blisters.
B.) One day Aric was popping a blister on his foot and beer shot out.
C.) A name concocted with a pair of words many runners associate with running.
Question 4 – Jody Shapiro, pictured below, started the Manito Running Club in 2008 which meets year-round on Saturday mornings. Where do they meet?
A.) The Vista House at the top of Mt. Spokane.
B.) Down by the river, under the bridge.
C.) At the 18th Ave. entrance to Manito Park.
Question 5 – The Brick West Running Club, started by Joey Addington, has had 3 names since it was originally established as C:/Next IT/Run in 2011 by Jeff Schuster. Why the name changes?
A.) The group had to enter the running club witness protection program.
B.) Next IT, an artificial intelligence software firm where Jeff worked, asked him to change the name because forward slashes had become uncool.
C.) The Monterey Cafe, where the group met, took over sponsorship and the group’s name from Next IT. Eventually Monterey management ceased sponsorship, and Joey found a new home at Brick West in 2021.
A quick break and a confession – I have an ulterior motive for doing this quiz. I know with 100% certainty that I’ll be hearing from Sprint McDowell. He’ll blow his top when he finds out I did a quiz post when previously he did them for me. It’s comical watching him lose his temper. Sprint talks so fast that he uses the wrong words, mispronounces them and his facial expressions are hilarious. It’s great entertainment. Here’s Sprint getting mad at me during a Zoom interview when I “accidentally” called him Spuds McDowell.
Okay, on to Question 6 – For years, Dominic Bartoletta (pictured below) has made the inflated claim that the group he manages, Run Perry Run Club, might be the 4th best running group in Spokane. How does he justify this extravagant boast?
Dominic (left) and Conor.
A.) There’s no justification. It’s a profusion of preposterous wishful thinking.
B.) A runner once told Dominic that she rates his group somewhere between 4th and 15th best on her personal scale. Dominic took the high-end rating for his frequent online promotions.
C.) Conor Craigen, co-manager of the Run Perry Run group, made it up and Dominic believes him.
D.) A local weekly, The Inlander, published an informal readers’ poll for best running clubs. Run Perry Run was not among the top 3 named. With self-deprecating humor, Dominic came up with the slogan, Quite possibly, the 4th best run club in the city.
Question 7 – Which running club meets Monday evening in Spokane Valley?
A.) The Palisades Running Club whose founder, the intensely lazy Brett Danielson, doesn’t even get off his couch to attend club get-togethers. Members meet at his house.
B) The Millwood Milers, managed by Lisa Skay and Sadeen McAlister. Running routes are posted on social media not in miles, but kilometers. The group should change its name to The Millwood Kilometerers.
C.) The Green Bluff Running Club whose founder, Jim Dietz, settled on a barn in a rural area north of town for post-run socializing. The building by happy chance houses Big Barn Brewing Company.
D.) The Spokane Valley Running Club, started by David Blythe, meets at The Monkey Bar. With a bison logo mascot, incorporating animals into group identity should be taken a step further with members called gazelles and David being Head Gazelle.
Question 8 – The SoHi Running Group use to meet Mondays at Miguels Mexican Restaurant on 29th. Their use of the restaurant was revoked. Why did Miguels take this action?
A.) Group members’ tradition of wearing oversized sombreros at the post-run gathering knocked servers’ trays to the floor, poked customers in the eyes and damaged hanging light fixtures too often.
B.) An ongoing dispute with the rival Highlander Running Group, started by Eric and Summer Enser, which also meets on the South Hill, resulted in frequent post run brawls in the Miguels parking lot.
C.) During the pandemic, Miguels halted inside service. Since reopening, business is down and being open on Mondays is not yet feasible.
Question 9 – Greg Wallweber started a group in 2016 called Tuesday Off Season Running Group. What is the basis for this group’s name?
A.) Originally named Thursday Off Season Running Group, several weeks of comments and explanations by members finally convinced Greg he had misnamed the group which always meets on Tuesdays.
B.) In Greg’s own tangled words: “Tuesday and Thursday are major days. But which is more majorer in the off season? That’s a hard decision especially when Monday is a close 2nd and Saturday is really improving. Suddenly Wednesday looks like a winner.”
C.) When the Run Perry Run group ends organized runs at the annual autumnal time change, the Off Season Tuesday group starts up for diehard winter runners.
Greg’s off season runs have attracted a core group.
That’s it. if you guessed the last answer given for each question, you got a 100%. I have a wall chart hanging in my office. Email me your name and I’ll write it in and affix a gold star after your name.
The groups in this quiz can be characterized as social running goups. A few small social groups weren’t mentioned, as well as ones whose main focus is competitive racing. The Bloomsday Road Runners Club, which puts on a bunch of races and has been involved in many aspects of the local running community, has been around since 1978.
Finally, now that this post is online, I see a notification requesting me to join a meeting. I’ve devised a way to look in as the “inviter” waits for me to join. Here’s a screen shot. See…just like I predicted. It’s Sprint McDowell, and he looks very, very mad.
The minute I join this meeting, Sprint will go into a tirade. This is going to be fun.
There’s problem I been halfing with grammar, spelling and choosing the right words due because of head injury obtained while during a run. I cant wait for completely 100 percentage of recovery as it’s time to do post, so qwality of writings might be more lower compared of previous. Please bare with myself as I inspect “Dumb Jim” to improv back to old self in short periods of time.
For this post, I write the things that going on lately which not earth shattering, just ordinary stuff of dally life.
First, I continue the running even with injuries of the head. Proof is availeble in below photoshot.
Photo by Annalee Wilson
I invention new sandwich. I cut the tofu into slice. Onions and pickles too. Cheese already cut into slice. Add thyme and the miners lettuce from gardon. Dried and ground serrano pepper add the heat but you may substitution the store-bought red pepper flakes. I disbelief at grate taste.
A common wildfire grows my front yard.
Name is arrowleaf balsamroot. You see many these wildfire in forest around the town, but few in yard of the houses. They hard to start, but I started after some tries.
The cat Gloopy and me relationship become contentious.
She 20 years age and become more demanding. She used to meow rarely but now she meow loudly for eats and speshal treatment and wants now. I refuse the coddling of kitty cats so I fight back. It like battle but Gloopy must be regular cat not royal one.
I anger at electricity power tool for cutting the face due because on/off switch failure.
Less than 4 year old but period of guarantee defunct. I email maker – works grate but i decide exchange to new brand due because short life. E-mail disappear. It send? I anger more. I phone 8 hundreds number. Man say email breezed in. Two question later, new unit mailing forth, money charge lacking. Gold medal saluting to Remington of Spectrum Brands.
I write history stories that sure to spread into wildfire or sell for hotcakes.
Webbed site book sale to U.S. houses only. Sorry foreigners of other countries. But if you excursion to Spokane for buy, I will smash 10% off.
Thank-you for visit I Must Run Everywhere. Hoping you half a wonder full day and even more better tomorrows.
Last January, while running on a steep, unlit road at night, I came to a patch of ice. My legs flew up, I landed on my back, and my head whiplashed against the pavement. I was quite dizzy for a minute, but was able to get up and finish the run. Since then, I’m a little dizzy for several seconds whenever I get up from a lying position. I don’t really have problems with my writing, and a CT scan showed I had no injury, but I’m still waiting for the dizziness to go away.
There’s a new mind control facility in Spokane that attracts runners. I decided to go there undercover. It seems to be working quite well as I saw lots of people who look like runners and people I know personally who are runners.
The way it works, the facility stages events that are designed to attract the running crowd. They flock to the site hypnotically, lining up to get inside where they sit obediently, silently watching a “performance” that affects their mood.
Like robotic cheerleaders, they clap hands at certain moments, yell things and then go into a stupor, moving their heads back and forth like watching a bug flying circles in front of them. It disgusts me, yet somehow I was drawn into it, too.
This facility is called The Podium, and what attracts runners are track meets.
It’s brand new, and I’ve already been to two track meets. What makes this place different from the other indoor running tracks in our area is its large size and that it’s a banked track. This allows for fast times, which really appeals to track athletes. Here’s a couple photos of very fast runners at The Podium.
This facility allows big indoor meets to be held in Spokane which couldn’t have happened before. When there is no track meet scheduled, the running track can be dismantled for other sporting events to take place.
One of the meets I watched was the U.S. Indoor Track & Field Championships. The two top finishers in each event qualified for the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. I got to see Cole Hocker, currently the top middle distance runner in the U.S, win two races.
A unique feature that no other track facility has is the Athletes and Fans Interactive Playground in the courtyard. Designed for athletes as a pre-event warm up and for fans needing a break from sitting, it is well used. Mingling is encouraged, and a kiosk with a generous supply of pens and writing paper allows fans to get all the autographs they want.
I think The Podium is a great thing for Spokane. So is the playground which isn’t really a designated warm up area for athletes. It just happens to be close to The Podium in Riverfront Park.
