Congratulations again on completing another marathon

Congratulations Dad! You just keep on pumping them out--one marathon after the other. Your effort and dedication is truly inspirational to me, and you have finally motivated me to run at least half of what you've done an unbelievable 23 times already.   I'm shooting on doing a half marathon race within this year!

Thanks for recording your marathon race. It was insightful to see Los Angeles from the eyes of a runner going through the nice and ugly, rich and poor, and ethnically diverse streets of this city I've been living in for nearly two years already.   Even with all that time, nearly all the pictures and sights I see are new to these eyes.

I really enjoyed the spectator experience for this L.A. marathon too; it was beautiful and touching to see people of such diverse backgrounds--white, black, asian, latino, and everything in between--rally together to run and to support each other during the marathon. Two hundred yards from the finish, a middle-aged man cramped in his calf and nearly fell to the ground. The hundreds of spectators lining the street responded with cheers of encouragement that loudly echoed between the surround skyscrapers and filled the air with an abundance of positive energy. He dragged his left foot then right foot right one after the other all the way to the finish.

In my eyes, people coming together helped break the runners' physical barriers to achieve such a daunting challenge. But more importantly, helped illustrate the potential of our human unity; such unity, so powerful and so essential, which when manifested can and will solve the largest challenges of humanity and the world.

Congratulations again on completing another marathon! You sure are Rodney the Running Machine! Thanks for the tour of LA. Nice pics. It almost made me feel like I was running right along side of you. That's my kind of marathon! Cool to see the Korean ladies in their pretty dresses, Elvis and Marilyn. Thanks again for sharing brother dear. Love, Sandy

Uncle, cool pics! And that time is AWESOME!! Wow, SD marathon? Okay, I hope you do your 25th in SF...

Ohhhh, this run was so interesting because you got to see so many different places and people! I was fascinated with all the different ethnic groups of people cheering the runners on. Of course the best part was seeing your wife and son looking so happy to see you!! You did it again! Congratulations!! I thought you were going to stop running but I guess nothing can hold you back……you’re amazing! Thanks for sharing this with me. I really enjoyed it a lot! - Jan

Priscilla

Thank YOU!!! CONGRATS*****

Fantastic and thoughtful capture of your 23rd running adventure. You are truely the running story-telling photograph. Waiting to find your story in the Honolulu Advertiser as they promised. Through all the years we know each other you always share your many interesting events. Through your eyes I learned much about Hawaii and the US and the American way of life. Almost feels as if I have been there. Very nice greeting committee btw!

Will share your success and fun run without cramping with our "Webism Group of Worldwide Artists" friends.

Cheers,

Ingrid-LI

Loved your LA Marathon virtual run 'with you' from beginning to end, brother Rod! It gave me a very good flavoring of what the course was like. It was nice to see such a great turnout of humanity for this race and the wonderful volunteer and spectator support for this event. ;)

Again, CONGRATS on your successfully completed 23rd marathon, bro. You're making it extremely tough for our family's new generation of marathon runners to catch or surpass your completed marathon count. And, you're still going very very strong indeed. WOHO! So, it's now San Diego or Bust on june 1st, right? WOW! Keep it going, bro!

Thanks again for sharing this great pictorial marathon run with me, Rod. Really truly enjoyed it. And, btw, a most respectable finish time indeed. Your time would have been significantly faster if you hadn't stopped and taken the tons of photos along the way. LOOKOUT! ;)

Have a great week and continue to enjoy the well deserved and earned rest, bro.

Luv u,

Clay :)

CONGRATS AGAIN ON NO. 23!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will never know how you can do this awful lot of running even with a flu you went through so close to the event. And no cramping. First no cramping run after some painful. Cool. - Ingrid

Great job! I enjoyed living the event without the traffic or sweat. I
was actually anxious to see the #26 though I concede, not nearly as much as
you must have been. Get ready San Diego :)

Aloha,
H

Hello Rodney – I enjoyed the whole marathon – what a tour of LA you got! And these pictures prove that YOU REALLYDID IT! Since you survived - good for you. I suppose Bronson and your wife were able to follow your progress with your shoelace chip,and know about when you will arrive at the finish line. There sure were a lot of walkers toward the finish!

I am up at an ungodly hour, 3:00 AM , dealing with geriatric insomnia. This happens to me a couple of times a week. The thing to do is get up, go somewhere else in the house and do something until you are sleepy, then return to the bedroom and turn out the lights. You can’t fight it, you live with it. So here I am.

We visited Marilyn’s classmate from elementary school in Pasadena about four years ago. They live right on a small hilltop above Silver Lake, with a nice view all around, including the HOLLYWOOD sign in the distance, and all those houses crowded against each other on the hills around. They drove us around so we could see “ Hollywood ” (pretty run-down), and we ran into blocked streets, etc. there for the annual youth parade in recognition of the Armenian genocide in about 1915 (?). There were hundreds of Armenian youths carrying flags and having a good time in recognition of a very bad time. What a cosmopolitan city LA is!

I was in LA for the Tournament of Roses in about 1957, as a member of the US Air Force Band. I remember so vividly the hazy look of any distant object, even as little as block away – smog was very bad then. Marilyn’s family had lived there in the winters for about four years, and they left permanently because of the air. Her lungs still have some weakness, we think, because of growing up in that smoggy mess. I remember being barely able to see the noon sun – on a cloudless day! We now have no such atmosphere, ever, in northern Maine , but there are hints of it in southern Maine , 300 miles south.

We had tickets to the Rose Bowl game after the parade, but I had eaten a juicy fresh orange, dyed skin and all, that morning, and I was sick on the back of the bus all that afternoon. Amazing – the Air Force has flown the band from DC to LA in a transport plane just for that event –for the “good image” I suppose. Pro-military propaganda, and I was part of it – it was my job then. I got out as soon as I could.

Thanks again for the pictures, and congratulations on doing the whole course. Just don’t do too many of them.

Our wood supply has run out, and we have no place for more wood to be delivered (the house is snowed in) so as of this morning we are burning oil, very reluctantly. No kidding, the front walk is a 5-foot trench through the snow, and the very short driveway is likewise. This can’t last- at least the sun is high in the sky, as predicted.

Thanks again for the photo tour of LA.

Harrison

good job and nice pics.

Clint

CONGRATS AGAIN ON NO. 23!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will never know how you can do this awful lot of running even with a flu you went through so close to the event. And no cramping. First no cramping run after some painful. Cool. LI

CONGRATS for the successful completion of your 23rd marathon, Rod! We're all so impressed and proud of you! 5 hours, 25 minutes? That's totally awesome!!!

Thanks for sharing your marathon course photos with me. I really enjoyed my virtual run with you through the streets of LA. Great photos, fantastic documentation!!!

Love,
Verna