Very cool.

It is Sunday morning and I sit in my recliner watching the weather channel. I get a text message from my operations director Joel Schiller that he is in my neighborhood leading the group of bikers (thank you Brandywine Cyclery) who will be leading the marathon, half marathon and relay teams on May 17th. They are doing this for a couple reasons. One....to get a good look at the route and two .....to see how traffic is on a Sunday morning. I went outside and watched the pack leave Wawaset Park and head down Bancroft Pkwy to 9th Street. They would do the Union Street / Lilttle Italy loop and then head back to Bancroft Pkwy where I live. Barb and I went outside to wait. I got to tell you....even on a test trial like this I was really excited to see the group of bikers coming down Bancroft. Joel was in his car leading the way with his flashers on. It would be neat to have a clock on the lead vehicle to let spectators know what the running time is so this is something we can work on. It was a cool moment. All the planning, all the logistics, all coming together. In a small way this reminded me of when I would head up to Boston to watch the Boston Marathon. I use to watch at a friends house on Heartbreak Hill. As the leaders approached first came the police on motorcycles, then the press truck, then folks on bikes, then here come the runners. Talk about excitement....the parade of runners just kept everyone cheering. I would hope that those is the local neighborhoods will come out and support the runners. We have done a lit drop to all homes on the route letting them know about the race and time schedule. This is going to be cool.