This weekend I had the pleasure of signing copies of The Jade Rabbit at the Detroit Free Press Marathon Expo. It was flattering to be invited by the folks at Running Fit (certainly the premier running store in the Detroit Metro area), and the real pleasure was probably working the booth as much as in peddling the novel to would be runners. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say Hi and picked up a copy.
The folks at Running Fit were terrific. It was a pleasure to hang out with so much running and fitness experience. And you could feel the positive effects of years of pounding the pavement had upon their soles. It's hard to have that many runners' highs without a permanent buzz. It's no coincidence that these are the folks who put on the three day music and trail-running communal adventure called Run Woodstock
Since it was difficult for customers to tell that I was the writer of the novel, I spent most of my time being a Pseudo Running Fit employee for the day. Usually I am at the expo nervous about the weather, worried about being on my feet, and wondering what kind of triumph or travesty Sunday's run would bring. Not this time. I got to speak with new and experienced runners both, answer questions about gu, chomps, wind on the bridge, and what the heck is that skeleton toiler paper roll next to me. It is a price for winning the upcoming, Run Scream Run, a spooky run through Wiards Orchard. Thus the spiderweb behind me.
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| Hi There |
On my right is the bin of "Hi-Tech Gloves." And why are these cotton throwaway gloves "HI-Tech"? They are extra snot absorbent, of course, was my answer. And no the gloves were not just bleached versions pulled off the streets from marathons past.
It was as great as a marathon weekend could be without actually running. I woke up Sunday morning, warm and in my bed, right around race time. "Are you signing books today Daddy?" my daughter asked. "No, I told her, I'm with you all day."
And she smiled and gave me a big hug.
Flattered again.
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The good folks at Running Fit doing their thing. Angela, in the pink, is still standing after a 100 mile run 6 weeks ago (she came in second and was one of only 4 woman who finished) followed by a marathon 2 weeks ago. And yes, she also ran Detroit on Sunday. |
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| Copies of the novel. Those not sold are now available at a Running Fit near you or on Amazon. |
3 comments:
Sounds like you had a great time. I occasionally work race expos for The Stick and it's always fun.
Thanks again for my review copy. i'm annoyed I forgot to ask you to sign it, but perhaps our paths will cross again soon.
And thanks also for your comment on my race report. I think about making the jump to fiction all the time, but I'm still too chicken.
I was literally thinking this morning that they need to make gloves tissues come out of, ha! Good to know someone's leaning that way.
Doesn't it feel good sometimes to just work/volunteer instead of run? It's fun, and relaxing, to see it from the other side.
Yes, Anne, it was a nice, refreshing and relaxing feel. All the communal benefits of the expo with none of the nervous baggage. And Leah, you were so chicken to make a ficion leap that you posted a creative and soul-exposing piece of flash fiction on your blog. Next time you say you're chicken, must mean you're ready to leap.
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