St. John the Baptist High School-Run Your Turkey Off 4K-2011

It's been quite some time since I visited my old High School Alma Mater. I drove up to the side parking lot noticing the building looked renovated and updated. The signs were new and inviting, as I walked into the rear entrance. I remembered playing hockey with our feet and using a crushed can as the puck.

Approaching the glass enclosure, I was greeted by Erik, who I started becoming reacquainted again via Facebook. He recently had daughter and lost 30 pounds to keep up with her. His commitment to his family gives me a reminder for me to stay focused on my health as well. We talked about the Sisters who taught us, scared us and of course Inspector Gadget that roamed the halls when we attended.

Then I saw Christine, again through Facebook we reconnected. She's going to walk this course, and I am looking forward for her to run it next year. A couple of more from the class of 1987, walked in to get their bibs and pretty nice tech shirts.

Linda and Nancy have seemed to round out our running crew from '87. Both are doing some kind of race and getting more and more alumni to run also. Their last big race was the Diva Half Marathon in October.

The race started at the front of the school. We merged onto Montauk Highway and made a right into the West Islip neighborhood all the way down to the water's edge. We came to the turnaround point and noticed that we are running an 8:37 pace. Wasn't expecting to run that fast, but I was doing my best to keep up with Nancy. We headed back north back towards the school, back past the parking lot and onto the football field. It's been 24 years since I stood on the field. Looks like they put down some artificial turf and the field looked nice and green. A photographer at the finish line snapped the pictures, and we all crossed the line with a great pace.

We gathered ourselves and ate eat some bagels, bananas, apples and clementines. Looking for some SJB souvenirs, we drifted towards the halls towards the school store. On our way, we noticed the new lockers, big enough to hide a tiny freshman. The school store was once filled with textbooks, and now sells SJB merchandise. Gym clothes, shirts, sweats, and ear rings line the shelves now.

Erik, Linda, Nancy and I parted, and made plans to get more alumni to at least show up and future running events especially this one. Some upcoming races that we talked about are the Marine Corp 10K in Arlington, VA, and The Warrior Dash up in Windham, NY! Of course our hometown favorite, the Great Cow Harbor 10K. Hope to see you there!