Discussion: Flying Pig 2004

Hey everyone this is Tim. I was just curious as to whom of yall (tx accent) will be attending the Flying Pig this year in Cincinnati? I know this is practically the primo event for the JR.s becuase most of us are still in hs, but basically im just curious of we will see any of the bone's or carr's or sager's or buckley's etc.
Hope so see you all there,
Tim

No Saegers attending......will be rowing, studying and putting on a local meet (ing).....

I'll be going. Brian

Here is link to the start list:
http://www.ocin.org/flying_pig/pigVIII/start_list....

Most of the Canadian elites are coming, as well as some of the USA elite. Should be fun!

I'll be there, as will Dave Frei. No death match, though - I'm running my age group (M40) while Dave is running Blue. I'll miss the Farsta, but I don't think I have the legs this year to stay with the pack.

Some (not most) Canadian elites are racing the Pig this year (Fransson, Waddington, Mahoney x 2, Smith x 2). Why the Pig? 1) Training for the 2005 US Team Trials since the 2004 Cdn trials have not been announced yet (yes it is true) , 2) similar terrain to Nor-Ams, 3) close to a Waffle house, 4) one word - Farsta.

Close to a Waffle House? Yikes! That's almost as enticing as "close to a Tim Horton's".

Hmmm... based on Hammer's message, I guess Mark Adams is going to DNS for one reason or another. I also bridled at "Most of the Canadian elites" and the western half of them are mostly waiting for later spring meets to trek east but, at least with Mark, there's a strong case for M-21+ that the Canadian elite are better represented than the American elite based on 2003 rankings - 6 Canadians ranked 13th or better but you dip into the low twenties to reach the same number of Americans. Quite a testament to GHO's strength.

Don't be knocking Tim Horton's JJ, this is our secret - our sacred shrine of legal doping of java and donuts. And Hamilton, as the birthplace of the company, has over 80 establishments. Mark Adams' signing bonus to join GHO was 5 free Tim's coffees (Mark will DNS the Pig and race Billygoat instead).

JJ probably just didn't realize that Tim Horton's is owned by one of his favorite fast (food) establishments: Wendy's. It used to be as Canadian as bacon, but now I guess it's apple pie, eh? But now that he knows, I'm sure he'll be making regular dashes up north for his TH fix, eh, JJ!

Meanwhile, let's examine the Hammer's statement that the Canadian elite are headed to the Pig to train for the 2005 US Team Trials since the 2004 Cdn trials haven't been announced yet. That's deep. There are at least 7 levels of zen-ness there, and in my opinion this is precisely why the Hammer is the so very formidable Hammer he is. As he has demonstrated previously, even a horribly busted shoulder can't keep him down and he still pretty much destroys any racing field he chooses, whenever he chooses to hammer.

Who's dissing Tim Horton's? Not me! Of course, I don't think I'd make my travel plans based on being able to get to one. But I believe my previous post clearly put Tim Horton's above Waffle House in the eating-establishment rankings. (Truth be told, I rate Tim Horton's waaaay above Waffle House. With food like that, it's no wonder the Confederacy lost the war.)

I always regarded Waffle House as an interesting cultural artifact. On my first drive down the east cost to GA, seeing Waffle Houses in all their glory was something of an epiphany.

So 3 hours before the Pig Sprint we find a Tim Horton's on I-75 south of Toledo! Holy! So no Waffle House on this trip. It didn't help though - we ran poorly on Day#1 of the Pig. The sprint was bloody (lots of vines) and John Frederickson turned the tables on the elite men with a big win. Great run John!. The highlight of the weekend was the Farsta - especially given the decent field. This is a race format that we need to have more of. It takes more work to host it but it is great prep for international relays. Thanks to Vlad (on his birthday no less) and Mike Minium and OCIN for another great job. Results of the farsta were something like: 1) Doug Mahoney (GHO), 2) Mike Waddington (GHO), 3) Eddie Bergeron (SVO), 4) Hans Fransson (GHO), 5) Brian May (MNOC), 6) James Scarborough (BAOC)...