National Book Festival

This weekend, Sarah and I headed into DC for the 10th National Book Festival. The event had tents up on the National Mall, full of room for Authors to give talks and book stands.

The views of the Mall on a hot (very hot for Sept) day were spectacular:






The event was crammed with people, and the heat was a little overwhelming, especially as we weren't expecting it! It was great to see so many people turn up, and there were some great kids events. A really good thing, I feel.

One issue I had was the line up of authors and books was too high-brow. There were no Sci-Fi authors for me :( or even any less literary popular writers (like John Grisham, or Steven King). My feeling is, to encourage reading by everyone, a broader range of books should have been represented. Reading anything is a good thing, be it comic books, pulp sci fi, lady and the vamp romances, mystery, travel books, cult fiction, thrillers, crime, history, self help, etc etc.

It was a fun day still, and good to see so many people! Sarah went to get a book signed and we headed home....

Revenge of the Penguins 10 mile Run

Yesterday, I ran the Revenge of the Penguins 10 mile run along the C&O canal.

It was a beautiful day for it, and I coerced Sarah into getting up early to head down to the race...Here is a pic of me, pre-run, enjoying the early morning sun:







The run itself was along the canal, turning twice. It was a good, flat run and a beautiful cool day for it. I managed a 8.5 min mile pace, and finished under 1.30 hours. The race was a little longer than 10 miles a number of runners noted, and am proud of my time. My iPhone has a record of the run below:






Today, ached a bit. Need to rest for another day or so I feel!

PS race results available at http://mc-coop.org/results/20100918a.html

Our New Painting

Here's a picture of our new painting we bought over the weekend at the DC art fair:



The painting is a 3D type picture of row houses, like the ones we have around our Neighourhood. Slowly we're filling our walls up!

Trip to DC for some Culture....

This weekend, Sarah and I headed into DC for a spot of culture. Firstly, we stopped at the National Archives, where they display the Declaration of Independence, the US constitution and the Bill of Rights. What is as cool as the documents is the Argon-atmosphere containing bullet- proof glass cases the documents are kept in. NARA's Washington centre is also near a tribute to the Navy (below).

We also stopped at an Art fair by the National Portrait Gallery (which was also fun).

Following our dose of culture, we bought a small painting to put on our rather sparse walls, and headed home!

Skyline Drive

Last weekend, Sarah and I also visited Shenandoah National Park, a National Park in Virginia about 2 hours drive away. The park has at its centre Skyline Drive, a 100+ mile road winding through the Appalachian Mountains, and running alongside the Appalachian trail.

Its a beautiful drive, with some amazing views at stopping places:

We took a small hike along the Appalachian trail for a few miles as well, in some amazing dense forest.

I found a rock:

Even the car had some good views:

We definitely plan to go back soon; its an amazing place to go walking!

Kentland's 5 K Race

Yesterday, I took part in the annual Kentland's 5 K race which takes part nearby in Gaithersburg. The course (tracked on my phone; see below) goes through the streets of the community and around some of the local lakes....

It was a lovely day for it, and more than 1200 people took part. The race started early, to avoid the hear, so I dragged myself and Sarah out of bed for the 8:00 start. The community was full of festivities for the run, including a bouncy castle for kids and free goodies from local businesses.

Here is me starting off; aiming to keep pace with the 7:00 minute mile group:

The race went great, and whilst tough in the middle to stick on pace, I just about managed it, helped on by the crowds and trying to keep up with some of the other runners. I finished at 21:54 for the five K, which I was pleased with.

It was a great race, and really nice to see so many people out in town. Hopefully another race in a few weekends time; although this one might be longer....