A long time ago in a forest far away...

Episode IV
A New Hope
It is a period of monkey war.
Rebellious runners, racing
through a dense forest, have won
their first victory against
the secret Monkey Empire

During the race, several
runners managed to catch
sight of and escape from the
Empire's ultimate weapon,
FLYING MONKEYS, vile winged
beasts with enough strength to
destroy an entire jogger.

Pursued by the Empire's
winged agents, a horde of
marathoners race to their
finish line, custodian of the
knowledge that can save
their people and restore
freedom to the hills...

That.  And 23 days to go.  And, as before:

- Packet pickup will still be at the Gordon JCC on November 21, 2008 between 2pm and 4pm. The JCC is located at 801 Percy Warner Blvd, Nashville, TN 37148. This is less than 2 miles from the race start/finish area. Here is a map to the GJCC: http://tinyurl.com/MonkeyPacketPickup . Packet pickup will ALSO be available race morning adjacent to the starting line if sleep is not important to you.

- The night before the marathon, Dallas has arranged for an all-you-can-eat thing at Savarino's Cucina, a family-owned, small Italian restaurant with great cookies. This is where we did it last year. The cost will be $15 per person. Cash. If you want to go, hold on to your horses and Dallas or I will get your info in about one more week. This is the location: 2121 Belcourt Avenue; Nashville, TN 37212.

- Bring food.  If you want.  Monkey runners and volunteers always seem to outdo each other and those in prior years.  A veritable smorgasbord.  I think Monkeys like to eat stringy runners, so the more there is to eat postrace, the safer you will be.  Bring something salty if you can, since most folks seem to like to make dessertish foods.

- Based on my undying faith that people are fundamentally less foolish than you runners seem to be, I suspect that a couple of you have actually found wisdom and are planning on not running Monkey.  If you are one of the wise, please let me know; there is a waiting list of less enlightened folk who are hoping a spot opens up.  Also, if we know that you are not coming, we won't worry that some monkey caught and ate you when you don't finish.

Fools.
Trent

And also with you.

I wonder what a Monkey bib is going for these days on e-bay