I had a great weekend! I got a lot of sleep in, Tom and I hung out, and Jaclyn, Tom, Danielle, Angie and I all ran parts of the Apple Marathon! The race is organized by the Misato Tourist Association, which I didn't realize existed. Tom ran the half marathon (really fast), Jaclyn and Danielle ran the 5k, and Angie and I ran the 10k. It was a bright, warm day for the first weekend in November so the scenery was beautiful. It was a lot hotter than we'd all imagined it would be and were all wishing that there had been more water on the race course. Other than that, I think everyone had a great time. Many of my students and Jaclyn's were also running and were astounded by the fact that we actually have friends! Tom won the crate of Fuji apples for the international men's division again (all two of them), but this year Jaclyn took it home for the women (all four of us). The rest of us were satisfied with our finisher's prize of a Misato Apple Marathon 2003 towel and two beautiful apples.

Since I saw my Vice-Principal with camera zoomed while I crossed the finish line, I was expecting to see the shot at school today. I was shocked though, when I saw not only that picture, but also a picture in the Shimin Times (the paper for the villages in this area) and the Nagano Prefecture paper!! I'm a bit embarrassed... ! Check it out!