Six weeks earlier, Laura and I had plans to attend the Barbados Marathon. My Mom passed away the day before we were set to leave. My mom was the coolest. She lived 81 great years. In her last few years when she was confined to a wheelchair but still coherent she’d want to participate in our family relays – in her wheelchair of course. She was game for any and everything. She would have loved Barbados – especially the kids and swimming in the ocean. 

As part of our Cruise To Run – Give Back program,we had a shoe collection for the local kids. We had noticed than too many of the kids the past two years were running the 5K in bare feet and not because they wanted to. They had no running shoes. This time around, more than 200 pairs of new running shoes were collected and half of those were given to the kids in Bridgetown. Not only was it like Christmas for the locals – it was fun for the cruisers who helped the kids find the perfect fit for them amongst the big pile of shoes.

The Barbados 5K, first of three races during the week, is always a hot one but this time the prevailing winds worked in their favor until the last 1k anyway. Like a local said,”That’s not the sun (son) – that’s the Father!” When the Barbadians say it is hot, you know it is. I served as race announcer and  I heard many amazing stories before and after the race. Sue Butts of North Carolina lost 140 pounds and was returning to running after a stroke 4 years ago. Barbados was her welcome back race. Ronnie Levy from Philadelphia had heart surgery 6 months earlier. She ran a 44:13. Colorado’s Tom White was on crutches in Barbados last year – two months after surgery to amputate his leg. This year on his new cheetah leg, he ran a sub-21 and fourth in his age division.

Two of the more than 300 runners in our group of Cruise To Run folks were a young Indiana couple, Daryl Bollhoefer and Ashley Morrison, both of whom served in Iraq. We hoped we could meet them at some point during the week and as luck would have it – they were right next to us waiting for a table so we (Laura and Tutu Man Keith Straw) and I invited them to join us for dinner. Daryl and Ashley are true heroes both serving our great country in Iraq. And when they are back home in Indiana they are very involved in their local running community. We asked them what was it about the cruise that entice them to sign up and Ashley said it was easy to convince Daryl when she saw that Bart “Friggin’ ” Yasso was one of the guest speakers – and from there on out for the remainder of the cruise, my new moniker was “Bart Friggin’ Yasso.” Thanks Ashley!

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. We boarded the Caribbean Princess during the unadvertised  ”soft opening” – just like at running expos – so no wait, no lines. We have an outside cabin (with deck) on the 12 level, the Aloha Deck. Great vegetarian dinner with friends from St. Catharine’s, Canada and eastern Pennsylvania. Evening out on the deck at one of the big pools watching the Super Bowl on the jumbo tv with my buddy Ron Horn.  

Enjoying the weekend in San Juan, Puerto Rico before our Caribbean Running Cruise. before the cruise; a vacation before our vacation. Started the morning with a nice walk to the Old Fort with Canadian friends Cathy Belic and Klari Kalkman. Spent most of the day on the beautiful beach across from our hotel, catching up with old and new friends as they arrive in PR before boarding our ship on Sunday. Lunches and dinners at our fave San Juan hangout down the street - Don Jose Hacienda. Beautiful floor to ceiling open windows where you can experience the spray of the ocean inside the restaurant when the waves crash against the rocks outside the windows. Every once in a while a waiter will toss out some pan (bread) and a fish feeding frenzy ensues below. Saturday night we kayaked in a Glow-in-the Dark Lagoon. Unbelievable. Nighttime Kayaking into the Fajardo’s Las Croabas Lagoon thru a narrow channel, a mangrove swamp – gnarly roots everywhere, iguanas sleeping in trees, warm water and only three feet deep. After about a half mile of the narrow canal we emerge into the lagoon –  a bioluminescent bay, one of only 6 or so in the world,  lit up by the tiny dino-flagellates. Incredible.

Four years ago, the ING Miami Marathon was the first race to brand the hotel card keys. Brilliant!

ING Miami Marathon 15,000 runners in the marathon or half marathon.

ING Run for something better kids run had 4,000 youngsters.

On Saturday 1,500 runners did the 5k, which finished in Miami Beach.

I spent Friday and Saturday selling books and doing seminars at the expo.

Sunday I was at the finish line watching 15,000 happy runners cross the finish line.

 I met Alexis Garcia at the San Francisco Marathon 2008 we ran side by side the last 14 miles of the marathon. We slowed down to run with me.

His story is quite incredible. He left Cuba 16 years ago in Kayak.It took him 55 hours to reach the US. Today he’s a PE teacher and very active in the Miami running community. His wife Marlene did the half marathon and stepdaughter Lauren did the 5k and the kids run.

I call them my Cuban family.

Bart

I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I do – even when my body is whacked – being out there running, walking, helping out and volunteering at the races. Taking part, that’s what it’s all about.

It’s three weeks into 2009 and I’ve already been to Vegas (Fleet Feet & Running from an Angel Marathon) the first week of this new year, Green Bay Marathon kick off the next, Phoenix for Rock n Roll Arizona…and no, I didn’t go to watch the Cardinals defeat my team, the Eagles. Posts to come on all. I am now en route to Miami. Alexis Garcia and his wife Marlene offered to pick me up at the aiport in Ft. Lauderdale. Alexis is a runner I met during my comeback marathon at San Francisco last summer. If you’re at the Mimai Marathon expo this weekend, stop by my both and say hi. I will also be showing my slide show at a seminar on Saturday. 

Coming up next week: San Juan, Puerto Rico for a few days before the Caribbean running cruise, www.cruisetorun.com – a perfect time to escape winter. Then it’s  back-to-back trips out west: Running USA in San Diego followed by the Austin Marathon and RD conference, and a potential visit to the White House. Spring events will include the Pittsburgh Marathon kick off, Little Rock Marathon, Cooper River Bridge Run, the inaugural Illinois Marathon, Boston, Big Sur and Santa Barbara Wine Country Half. I am most excited about a July trip to Iraq, yes Iraq, where I will visit our troops at seven different bases in seven days. Stay tuned.

During the second week of the year I was in the coldest place on the planet – Green Bay, Wisconsin. It took planes, trains and automobiles – and two days – to get there so of course I had to make a pilgrimage to Lambeau Field. Cellcom Green Bay Marathon does an event kick-off in the dead of winter that is impressively attended by the local running community, newbies and grizzled vets alike. It felt like a thousand degrees below zero the night I was there but that didn’t stop 600+ brave (crazy) souls from showing up. The program included a highlight video from last year along with an overview of the 2009 event, the 10th running. I gave a talk and answered questions. Thanks for inviting me to be the guest speaker – and yes, that is a piece of cheese I am wearing on my head -not a turban.   

Here is a link to an article in the Green Bay Press Gazette:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090108/GPG0101/901080583/-1/archive

Happy New Year!

I apologize for being a poor bloggernaut in ‘08. I promise to catch you up-to-date in the coming months on some of my more interesting travels and races from last year. A quick tally of where I was yielded 6 countries including my first visit to Iceland where I ran the Reykjavik Marathon. I also ran the SF and Maui Marathons – a return to marathoning, kind of, after a four-year hiatus due to complications from lyme disease. 

The TSA folks at our local airport know me by name. I love the travel but our cat Mojave doesn’t and has taken to packing himself in my luggage. See photo. 2008 book signings, speaking gigs, race announcing, work (and vacations) brought me to more than 50 events in Canada, the Caribbean, and 22 states including numerous trips to California and Texas. It’s been great meeting other runners and hearing their stories…some of which I will share with you in future posts.

I was off to Chicago for a book signing at the Fleet Feet running store, then to Manitoba for their marathon and lastly Duluth, MN.

The Manitoba Marathon is one of those hidden jewels hosted by the fine city of Winnipeg.  I hit this race the past 2 years and loved the whole weekend of fun activities. My speaking gigs are normally hosted at a pasta dinner, at the race it’s a runners breakfast held the morning before the race. If you want to run a flat course this course is pancake flat.

The 32^nd running of the Grandma’s Marathon named after a saloon, you don’t have to be a Grandmother to run the race. This course can be lightning fast this year it was a bit warm which slowed down the runners a tad. If you want to see how a community embraces race Grandma’s is the ultimate. Race weekend in Duluth runners rule and the race is all everyone talks about. Everywhere you go in Duluth everyone will wish you well in the race.

The day after the race a full-page picture appeared in the Duluth News Tribune showing a runner dumping water on his head. The caption read Bart Yasso cooling off during the marathon; the funny was I didn’t run the race. The race was kind enough to give a bib number and I think the runner in the photo had a number very close to mine. I spent my day hanging at the finish line greeting runners as they finished.

Bart