My dad was born in 1932 and was raised during the Great Depression. I’ve detailed previously how we cinched our belts tight while growing up, wore hand me downs, and generally didn’t realize how poor we were because I was having too much fun being a kid. Fast forward 70 years and dad had a windfall selling a piece of property. The value of which was more than he made in his entire working life combined. When he called me a few weeks ago and indicated he had moved all but a survival pittance into a box (safety deposit, not shoe), I understood completely. He’s as much a skeptic as I am and percentage points, rates of return and pie-eyed speculation do not keep him awake at night. This roller coaster ride the stock market has been on hasn’t bothered him a bit. He’s a simple man. Me too.
I’m sure this has something to do with running. We are insulated here in West Omaha, land of the privileged and entitled. But the Real World does exist outside of 68130. And it is tough for some of our younger mates to afford today’s entry fees, especially when going longer than the reasonably priced 10Ks. Entries for half marathons and marathons have skyrocketed in recent years. I just paid $81 for one of our mates to run the Omaha Half on Sunday, ouch that hurt, but he would not have been able to run if left to his own financials. The fact that he is the Defending Champion eased the sting a little bit, he’ll represent with distinction.
Just so you understand, when you enter one of our TNB events, you are helping support these athletes. We too have raised our TNB race entry fees to be more in line with other local races. But we also pride ourselves on offering more and better amenities than any other race in the area. I’m always in hot water with our road race committee for insisting that such a large portion of our entry $$ go back to You the participants. But I’d rather you have a Great Experience and spread the love about what we do, and that’s just how I’ll continue to roll these puppies. We are committed to providing healthy lifestyle opportunities through Fun Family Fitness, we hope you will come out and take advantage.
Thanks to our Road Race VP Jody Green for producing and posting this map of the Swamp Stomp course. We will do a preview run next Wednesday and invite everyone out for some fun!
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