Friday, April 4, 2008—The day of departure has finally arrived. The six brave & hardy members of Team Little Guy leave Greensboro heading for Washington, DC. We are leaving from the NC Credit Union League’s office parking lot. I look at the six guys—Eric Gelly—John Radebaugh—Major Tom Hayden—John Slacker—Ed Agnoli—and of course yours truly. Six large men trying to get into one small van. This baby was designed for the pee wee soccer kids—not six foot plus large framed Clydesdales. As settle into the seat I quickly become acquainted with my knee caps. Get the picture. Hayden & Slacker quickly fall asleep. Now this is a fun group!
6:00pm—We arrive at the Marriott on 14th Street in the District. The bellhop smiles as we disembark from the van and waddle into the lobby. Legs seem to reject the notion that it’s time to straighten out. Ouch!
9:00pm—Have you even visited the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Washington? If you haven’t—you should. Very hip place with great restaurants and very hip clubs. Team Little Guy likes this neck of the woods. No better opportunity to share the story of our mission and fundraising activities. Lots and lots of new people to meet. Suddenly all the legs cramps are gone and we are convinced that a little dancing might even be beneficial to loosen the ole sticks up a bit!
12:00 Midnight—Team Little Guy legs are real loose now. Now it is only fair to report that while Eric, John and The Slacker are very good runners, Major Tom & Bubba are by far the best dancers. Marvelous rhythm!
Some time later we determine that our mission is accomplished. We have dutifully spread the word to all that would listen and even to those that wouldn’t. It amazing that to a man Team Little Guy is, at this point in the early am, please that the race is on Sunday and not Saturday!
Saturday morning, April 5th.—I slowly open one eye. The bright sunshine is streaming into the hotel room. I am sharing a room with Eric. I have no idea what time it is. My tummy tells me it’s time for breakfast. The marauding band of Team Little Guy merrymakers has lost a step or two as we shuffle of to the breakfast room. Not to worry for a belly full of scrambled eggs, bagels and gallons of coffee work magic on those hearty souls have all of Saturday to make more new friends.
11:00am—Marriott Crystal City. Packet & number pickup for the race.
The place is packed. Thousands of runners stream in and out of the place. We make it our business to introduce Team Little Guy to as many folks as we can. We deemed the effort to be a complete success.
3:00pm—-Time for a run.
Select members of Team Little Guy decide that a quick 30 minute run down to the Washington Monument would be just what the doctor ordered. The weather was absolutely perfect. We soon notice that the streets of Washington are chock full of people. The Mall is packed with people walking through and near the absolutely gorgeous cherry blossoms. The blossoms are at peak. As we weave our way through the thousands of tourists we notice that we are the only ones who are running. Thousands of folks walking and just us running. Very surrealistic. People just part and offer an opening as we approach. It’s like we were part of the entertainment that day. As I admired the beautiful cherry blossoms I knew that one strong wind and rain would unfortunately end this masterpiece of nature’s finest tapestry. Little did we know that all would change in a mere 12 hours.
8:00pm—Team Little Guy hunkers down to watch the Kansas/ Carolina game. Oops that’s right…..WHAT GAME? Ouch. We check the weather—BAD NEWS—-rain in the forecast for the morning. I immediately know what is needed. I head down to the corner CVS and purchase a $4.00 dollar box of 30 gallon trash bags.
April 6th—5:00am.—-I awake to the sounds of pitter patter rain falling on the hotel window. Eric wakes up—-open one eye and knows the forecast was right on the money.
6:45am Team Little Guy departs the hotel nattily attired in black 30 gallon trash bags. The rain bounces off the bags while the bags keep us warm. Now just imagine—early morning church goers in our nation’s capital drive by six large men wearing trash bags & bare legs. On the way to the Mall we walk right by the White House. If only the President was peeking out a window and spots Team Little Guy—”Laura, I think I might have to reconsider my position on the economy!” I think he might have also alerted the Secret Service!
7:50 am the rain stops and the bags are peeled off. Eric starts with the elite runners and heads into the great unknown of athletic achievement. The rest of us leave a little later.
10:30am—the race has ended. The rain starts falling again. We change into dry clothes and adorn the next trash bag for our walk back to the hotel. Thousands of other runners look at us with envy. They forgot to bring a bag.
The Results: All of the hearty six ran well. New personal records were set for the 10 mile distance. Eric was our fastest at 6:00 minutes a mile. Very impressive.
The ride back to Greensboro was full of tall tales and comments on the many moments of laughter we shared during the prior 48 hours. More important to us is that we spread the word about Team Little Guy’s efforts to raise money to help others. We also bonded closer together to prepare ourselves for the 2008 edition of The Blue Ridge Relay where we will again test our individual and collective mettle against those 208 arduous miles along and over the Blue Ridge mountains.
Run on my friends—-and never lose sight of the fact that we do what we do for others. Thank you ALL very much for your SUPPORT!
Bubba 
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