RUN CATO RUN!

Becky Hale, Mark & Jennifer Davis
Little Rock Marathon

This spring and summer my husband has become obsessed...with running.  They say once you start, it has an addictive quality...I'm starting to believe it.  One thing on Mark's "bucket list" was to run a marathon so he signed up for the Little Rock Marathon and started training.  Just six months out from back surgery Mark decided he would walk the half marathon his first time out.  GOAL - to finish.  Mark walked with two co-workers, Jennifer Davis & Becky Hale, and once he crossed the finish line, there was no looking back.  He immediately signed up for the Soaring Wings Half Marathon in Conway in October. 

Fayetteville Hogeye Half Marathon

In researching other marathons Mark came across the Hogeye Half Marathon in Fayetteville in April.  GOAL - to run the 13.1.  During the month following his first marathon in which he walked, .Mark started running every day.  The Hogeye is a more strenuous run that includes lots of hills, indicative of the Northwest Arkansas terrain.  My friend, Davey Bryan, who is an avid runner came across the finish line before Mark and he remarked that the route was brutal.  So I started to worry if Mark would be able to run the entire route or at the very least finish.  He figured it would take him about 2.5 hours to finish going into the race.  After talking with Davey I figured it would take him much longer than anticipated and just kind of settled back to wait.  After 2 hours and 39 minutes Mark crossed the finish line and I almost missed it!  I wasn't expecting him so soon.  I was SO proud of him!

Over the summer Mark kept training by running a 5K most every day and added trips to climb up Pinnacle Mountain several times a week to improve his balance and strengthen his legs.

East End Sizzler 5K

In August Mark ran the East End Sizzler 5K.  GOAL - to beat his fastest time yet, 30 minutes.  Saturday morning was HOT and HUMID, the kind where you sweat just by breathing!  But Mark had a good run and crossed the finish line at 29:29!

So far, so good.  3 Goals SET & 3Goals MET! 

If you're interested in cheering Mark on, here is his tentative schedule through the  end of the year.

October 23 - Soaring Wings Half Marathon (Conway)
November 14 - San Antonio Rock N Roll Marathon
December 4 - Memphis St Jude Marathon
December 12 - Fayetteville Half Marathon

I leave you with this quote I found that pretty much sums up Mark's attitude toward running.

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."
-Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

A "Natural" Get-A-Way

This weekend Mark & I headed up to Eureka Springs for a little R&R.  As we headed up Hwy 65 we see this sign (that we've seen 1,000 times before!) WORLD WONDER "Arkansas Natural Bridge."  Since we like to sometimes do touristy things...we stopped!  This is what we saw:

Arkansas Natural Bridge

Isn't it amazing that water can erode through rock like that?  And of course Mark had to check out all the other rock formations in the area.

Then Saturday was spent here:

Beaver Lake

Of course I had the lake essentials...Great read by the way! 

Saturday on the way to dinner we saw the sign that said Blue Spring Heritage Center.  The Blue Spring pours 38 million gallons of cold clear water each day into their trout filled lagoon which then flows into the White River.  The Spring maintains a year-round temperature of 54 degrees and is said to have "healing" powers.  The "Trail of Tears" also runs through the heritage center.  Some Cherokee Indians camped for several days by the Spring awaiting stragglers on their trek from Georgia to Oklahoma.  The hot weather has really taken a toll on the beauty surrounding the Spring, everything was very dry.  I told Mark we'd have to be sure and come back next time during the spring. 

Blue Spring

The Bluff that sheltered the indians in the 1830's has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Indians still visit Blue Spring and the Blue Spring Shelter and hold ceremonies.  It remains a place of peace, healing and connection.

We ate dinner at Anglers and then headed to downtown Eureka.  We strolled the streets of downtown until it got dark and some rather seedy looking characters came out.  Mark did find an interesting rock shop and bought a couple of unique samples of  Baltic Amber and Arkansas Citrine, recently discovered in Mt Ida.  After a quick stop at Mikki D's for some sweet tea and a wifi fix we headed back to the cabin.  NOTE TO SELF:  There are NO redboxes in Eureka Springs.

As we headed back to town Sunday morning, first stop, Pivot Rock, but there was a horrific wreck on 62 that had traffic backed up for miles, so we went the back way to town through Beaver.  In Beaver there is a really cool wooden one lane bridge.  A little unsettling as you cross, but very cool to look at.

I forget to mention that there was a Volkswagen rally in town this weekend.  We got across the bridge just in time before the string of VWs came through for their photo-op.  There is always lots of motorcycles in town, but this weekend there were tons of dune buggies (made from VWs) that were pretty cool.  The great weather made us wish we had one to ride around town in.

Next stop was PIVOT ROCK...we tried to go Saturday but they closed about 15 minutes before we got there and then there was the backed up traffic, so I didn't think we were going to make it this trip.  But Mark was on a mission...rockhound that he is...we were going to see the Pivot Rock.  This park encompasses several rock formations, small caves and deep ravines.  Tradition holds that this was one of the many hideouts of the outlaw Jesse James and his gang.

Natural Bridge

Pivot Rock

After completing our "rock mission" we headed home through Harrison to stop at one of our favorite mexican restaurants...I know we eat mexican a lot!...but no one around here has a Monterey Special!  Then we headed home down Senic 7 Byway.

First stop - Bufflo National River - Pruitt Landing.  I had to get a shot of this cool bridge...

As we headed back to the car I had a great conversation with a lady who was reading from a Kindle...I've had my doubts about an e-reader...but after talking with her and her husband (who had obviously down a lot of research before he purchased) I just may have to put this on my Christmas list.  And Mark is also interested in one.

Last stop on our Scenic 7 Byway drive was the Buffalo River Canyon, sometimes called Arkansas' Grand  Canyon. 

After a weekend of going to bed early, sleeping late, hanging out at the lake, doing some nature hikes and taking in some natural wonders it's good to be home to sleep in my own bed.

Babe Ruth Hall of Fame

What a GREAT night last night was for our family. After working with Babe Ruth Baseball for 50 years in some capacity, be it umpire, league president, tournament chairman, task force personnel or international board member, Dad was inducted in the Babe Ruth National Hall of Fame. Now my Dad is not one for recognition or glory, but I know he was extremely proud of this honor. I am very happy he was awarded this prestigious award while he was still alive. So many times it happens posthumously and I believe it robs the recipient of the thrill of receiving the award.

SO many friends and family members made the drive to Monticello in southeast Arkansas for the presentation. Normally the award is presented at their annual Board Meeting in the fall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Dad wanted the ceremony closer to home so that more of his family could be there. All seven of his brothers and sisters were there along with many nieces and nephews and great-niece and nephew, all of his children, his son-in-laws and most of his grandchildren (sorry you had to work, Susie & Jimmy), lots of friends from Pine Bluff and others from around the state that have worked with Dad in some Babe Ruth capacity. The presentation was in-between games at the 13-15 year old Babe Ruth World Series and they asked all of his friends and family to take the field…I swear there were more people on the field than left in the stands!

The HILL family that was in attendance.

Dad introduced me last night to one of his Babe Ruth friends as his "baseball buddy." LOL. I've never heard him say that before, but I guess it's true. I've spent years out at the baseball park with my Dad working in the concession stand, running the scoreboard, keeping the scorebook, doing the announcing, selling t-shirts, taking tickets, working task force when we had a tournament in Pine Bluff and whatever else he wanted me to do, except he never really trusted me with the mower! So yeah…I guess I am his "baseball buddy" and am so Proud of my Dad. Love ya Daddy!

Dad's Brothers & Sisters showing their support with Hog Shirts and
HILL on the back of their shirts!

I'm Back!

I have really missed blogging and it's been on my mind to start again for a while, but I just haven't taken the time to build a new blog. (I lost my last one when my husband, who hosted my blog, decided he needed that server for something else!) So I'm going with a public host this time and I will be figuring it out as I go.

Right now I'm extremely frustrated that I can't get the design right online. But hopefully over time I'll get that worked out, too. I'm hoping Blogger is having issues on their end and it's not all "operator error!"

On this blog I'll be sharing tidbits of our life with our four doxies, some creative endeavors and links to other blogs that I think you might find interesting, too!

Please leave me comments every now and then so that I know you're out there! But this is mainly a journal for me. I realized that having these entries was a great help in journaling in my scrapbooks when I finally got around to making pages some months/years after the event.