Author: JJ (Page 13 of 16)

YHC thought that many guys may be traveling or have other activities the morning of Thanksgiving so the idea came about for an F3-style Turkey Trot at The Pub to peak interest in coming out at 5:30 on a cold, holiday morning.

YHC arrived to find the parking lot full of cars and excited about the turnout. However, most were frost covered and had been in the parking lot all night. Apparently, the Thanksgiving Eve bash at Hickory Tavern was rocking the night before so some folks may have had to abandon their cars for the evening. The PAX arrived to find one SUV running with the lights off. Officer Roscoe did a quick inspection to find no one inside. Oh well, that’s someone else’s story to tell. On to the thang…

YHC covered the route and the rules of the race with a brief disclaimer. This race is led and ran by idiots. The course has no officials, no markers, no chip timers, and no liability if anything happens. It also had no lights at the start line as the lights in the Publix parking lot were all out. The Hickory Tavern Turkey Bash must have really gotten out of hand. The race would have one division for the award presentation, Male – Birth and Up.

The PAX lined up at the chalk-drawn start line, and we were off through The Pub Route.
Out of the Publix parking lot and right on Hoffman
Left onto Pamela (Yes, I know. I’m aware there’s a funny way to state that to make everyone snicker.)
Left onto Gardner Park Dr
Left onto Armstrong Park Rd
Back to The Pub

First of all, Moses is a sneaky competitor. He was poor-mouthing his speed to YHC and Leppard at the beginning of the run. By the time we hit Armstrong Park Rd, Leppard and YHC were reminiscing about the old days of going with our dads or grandfathers to the local convenience store for a Co-Colar when we look up to find Moses setting a strong pace in front of us. It took all we had to keep up with him for the remainder of the race. Way to push the rock Moses!

The three of us returned to find Roscoe, Whoopee, and Defib starting short of the chalk-drawn Finish line. It appears the plan was to run over the line as a team, but Moses had different thoughts as he sped over the line for the victory. It was a well-earned victory as he set a strong pace.

Moses was presented with the 1st Annual The Pub Turkey Trot trophy.

COT
Announcements
No significant workout announcements to share, none, nada, zilch, zippo, move along, nothing to see here.

Prayer Requests
Praise – Whoopee’s 10 year anniversary, AYE!
Thankful for our blessings
Remembering those who lost a loved one during this time

The Pledge

YHC prayed us out

After the run, YHC saw that 2 Corinthians 4:15-16 was the daily verse on my Bible app.

15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

To YHC, there are so many F3 principles wrapped up in these verses. Through our EH’ing, encouragement, and accountability, we’ll accomplish the goal of the reinvigoration of male community leadership. For that we will give thanks and give all glory to God. As we work to make ourselves stronger on the outside, His Spirit will make us stronger on the inside and allow us to be better husbands, fathers, and friends on a daily basis.

I am thankful for F3 and for each one of my brothers that are a part of it. I pray that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Until next week…

Just kidding, we ran.

Most ran The Pub Route:
Out of the Publix parking lot and right on Hoffman
Left onto Pamela
Left onto Gardner Park Dr
Left onto Armstrong Park Rd
Back to The Pub

Others ran a shorter version of about 4 miles:
Out of the Publix parking lot and right on Hoffman
Left onto New Hope
Left onto Armstrong Park Rd
Back to The Pub and circle around for additional mileage

Announcements:
Convergence at The Yank w/ 3rd F to follow
Veteran’s Day Murph at The Black Knight
New AO on Tuesdays at Bess with no-running, Pain Lab-style workout (This announcement went over well at a running AO). In all seriousness, thanks to Hipaa for coming out to promote it.

Prayer Requests:
Monk’s brother-in-law’s mother
Stroganoff’s friend w/ liver cancer

Sometimes things happen in life and when you look back you’re glad that you got to witness it in person. That event happened out of the blue in the COT on that mild Thursday morning. But before that we ran…

The PAX gathered.

The Pledge.

The PAX ran varying distances with a similar route.

5 Milers:
Out onto Armstrong Park Rd.
Left onto Berry Rd.
Right onto Lee St.
Left onto New Hope Rd.
Right onto Armstrong Park Dr.
Right onto Armstrong Park Rd.
Back to The Pub

Some ran a shorter distance by running out and back on Armstrong Park Rd. in the same direction.

Now to the highly over-hyped portion of the COT. The Nantan stepped forth with an announcement that you could tell had him highly focused. He stepped up, and back, and then up, and back, and then up, and then back, and finally up. He righted what so many in the ranks of F3 Gastonia felt was a travesty of unthinkable proportions. However until that point, no one had the courage to make happen. That is why this HIM is the Nantan for tough times like this. The F3 member known as RPO (Ready Player One) would be no more. From this day forward, young William Wallace would be granted the honor due to him and would from then on be known as Braveheart! Everyone cheered, and then we moved on.

Announcements
F3 Gastonia Christmas Party – Dec 15th
Veteran’s Day Convergence at The Yank w/ 3rd F following the workout

Prayer Requests
Sly home soon
Christians in Pakistan

Prayer

Till next time…

Benefits of taking Q at The Pub compared to other AO’s are ease of weinke creation and short backblasts. However short they may be, sometimes it is hard to write a timely backblast. That has been true even of the Site Q at The Pub lately.

It’s only been a week, but here’s what I remember. I was still a little bleary eyed when I rolled into the AO last Thursday. I started seeing a lot of non-regular Pub guys roll in. It was great to see some guys that I hadn’t seen in a while, but I had to look around to make sure it was Thursday morning and this was The Pub. Turns out I wasn’t dreaming so let’s get to it.

The Pledge

Since we had a diverse PAX in terms of running pace, we did the Have It Your Way route to Martha’s and back along Hoffman/Robinwood. Some ran 3. Some ran 5 or more. Some ran somewhere in between. All pushed the rock and encouraged someone else.

Announcements
Whetstone
40 day challenge
Veteran’s Day Convergence at The Yank (11/10)

Prayer

Until next time.

a couple of weeks ago at The Pub, we ran.

We started down Armstrong Park Rd.
Left on E Perry St.
Right on Lee St to get back on New Hope.
Left on New Hope.
Right on Armstrong Park Dr.
Right on Armstrong Park Rd and back to the Pub.

Announcements
Burpeethon (yeah, it was that long ago)

Prayer Requests
Brett Riggs wife
Florence, SC officers
Sly and the soldiers
Kids in school
Sister Act’s daughter w/ migraines
Nicki Bailey
Boudin’s mother’s surgery
Gastone’s family
John Morris – JJ’s friend w/ Brain tumor
Anthrax family

It’s been said that weinke inspiration can come from various places. Even for The Pub, you never know what can inspire the upcoming Q. That happened to YHC while watching TV and catching the latest Subway commercial. It appears their new tagline is “Make it what you want.” Good idea.

YHC arrived a little earlier than usual and found The Pub lot was full of cars. Nice. However, I didn’t see any PAX. Not nice. I then remembered there was a women’s run group that met from time to time. Good work by the ladies.

Eventually the PAX started rolling in along with some of our guys that had gone for some early EC. The PAX was 12 in total which was a great number.

The Pledge

Shared with the PAX that this was going to be a “make it what you want” mosey. The plan was to run down Hoffman Snoball’s at Martha River’s Park. There and back would be just over 5 miles. However if you wanted a shorter mosey, turn around at any point, and you are halfway back.

Most ran at least 5 so good work by all.

Announcements
Races during the upcoming weekend
Burpees by the Lake

Prayer Requests
Sly and the soldiers
Broke – friend that passed
Mayor’s M
Nicky Bailey
Sargento’s guess appearance on CSPAN’s roundtable
Flood victims

Prayer

Until next time…

Earlier in the week, YHC wasn’t quite sure what to expect come Thursday morning, but it turned out to be a nice, yet humid, morning for a mosey at The Pub. 8 PAX gathered for a run around South Gastonia prior to the weather that was pending towards the East.

After discussing the route, the PAX set off on the The Pub Route

Out of the Publix parking lot and right on Hoffman
Left onto Pamela
Left onto Gardner Park Dr
Left onto Armstrong Park Rd
Back to The Pub

The Pledge

Announcements
Q vs Q at the Gashouse on Saturday
Burpeethon
JJ 5k and Stop Solder Suicide 5k/10k on 9/22
Run supporting Veterans in Cramerton

Prayer Requests
Praise – BRR went well
Stroganoff
Sly
Folks in the path of Florence
Gastone in-laws

Great work men.

Till next week…

Sometimes life gets busy. Sometimes it gets so busy you can’t find time to write a backblast. Sometimes it gets so busy you can’t even find time to write a backblast for The Pub. It’s been almost a week, but YHC thinks he remembers what was done as 5 PAX posted on a beautiful, but humid, morning.

We ran…

Out onto Armstrong Park Rd.
Left onto Berry Rd.
Right onto Lee St.
Left onto New Hope Rd.
Right onto Armstrong Park Dr.
Right onto Armstrong Park Rd.
Back to The Pub

Pledge

Announcements
Burpeethon
Maybe some others

Prayer Requests
Stroganoff and family
BRR runners and drivers

Good work by all, especially Defib who came out the day before leaving for the BRR.

Until next week (tomorrow)

If you don’t know who Bob Wylie is, you are missing out. He’s the offensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns who has a personality about as big as his waistline. In a video with language not suitable to show your mama, he shares that America “won two World Wars, two World Wars” by doing pushups, jumping jacks, situps, climbing a rope and running. In honor of the treasure that is Bob Wylie, the PAX at The Pub concentrated on one of those foundational principles of American greatness. We ran…

The “Pub Route”
Out of the Publix parking lot and right on Hoffman
Left onto Pamela (to be clear, that is take a left turn onto Pamela St)
Left onto Gardner Park Dr
Left onto Armstrong Park Rd
Back to The Pub
Thanks to the PAX for helping recover the lost sheep. Q fail on that for losing the six.

The Pledge

Prayer Requests
Sly
Stroganoff and family
Gastone’s in-laws
Dunce and M for the baby on the way

Close in Prayer

Good work by all.

Until next week…