Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon

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cripples and monkeys and broken things (Read 38 times)

Trent


Good Bad & The Monkey

    I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and monkeys and broken things.

    Which, I imagine, is how the battle left you. Yet your battle gives me nostalgia for a conversation from long ago. I recall it from within a castle of the Citadel, on a stormy island off the coast.

    “What’s the use of a candle that casts no light?” I asked of the acolyte.

    “It is a lesson,” came the response, “the last lesson we must learn before we don our monkey’s shoes. The glass candle is meant to represent truth and learning, rare and beautiful and fragile things. It is made in the shape of a candle to remind us that a monkey must cast light wherever he races, and it is sharp to remind us that speed can be dangerous. Fast men may grow arrogant in their running, but a monkey must always remain humble. The glass candle reminds us of that as well. Even after he has said his vow and donned his shoes and gone forth to race, a monkey will think back on the darkness of his vigil and remember how nothing that he did could make the candle burn...for even with knowledge or speed, some things are not possible.”

    As the ground begins to dry today, the day after Monkey, I remember also that the candle that casts no light reminds us that even soaking rain may cast no enduring wetness.

    And so note, the singers make much of monkeys who fight valiantly in battle. Winter will never come for the likes of us. Should we race the monkey, they will surely sing of us, and it's always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, the runners victorious, and the sun is always shining.

    But you know the truth. You know that you ran Monkey the year it rained, book 2.

    So congratulations, my knights. Well done. Your bravery is honorable.

    Some info for you -

    - Results are up on the website. Enjoy them. I suspect a few of them may be accurate even.

    - Free photos for the downloading, courtesy of Elly Foster. Check them out:

    Finish line: http://www.ellyfosterphotography.com/Sports/Flying-Monkey-2014/45912612_S9WFb5#!i=3716636948&k=fdnVkBf

    On the course: http://www.ellyfosterphotography.com/Sports/Flying-Monkey-Fun-2014/45933706_2jqHFT#!i=3719067044&k=h8jT4p2

    - Please thank our heroic volunteers! They did a bang up job and I am both proud and appreciative. The best way to thank them is to give feedback either via an email to Diana the volunteer coordinator and me, or through a review on MarathonGuide at: http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=2539141123

    Enjoy your stiff legs, your drained brain and Thursday's pumpkin pie. Recover well. And come back for more.

    Have a great Thanksgiving.

    Valor Monkyulus : All Monkeys Must Run
    Trent

    P.S., the lady bugs were for good luck. You needed it.

    Elly.


      Actually, you can merely click on  ---> www.EllyFosterPhotography.com  <---   

       

      I featured all the Monkey galleries, and have a little slide show going a well.

      http://www.ellyfosterphotography.com/