Mark Hohmeister gives the Palace Saloon 5K a shout out

The Tallahassee Democrat ran a column about running today by Mark Hohmeister, "Put on that silly Santa hat and start running." Being an old track-and-field guy I would have preferred that the story ran under sports instead of in the local news, but it did run on the front page of the local section so I have to limit my grousing. The column is mainly about the Jingle Bell Run, which is far from my favorite event. But the story came to my attention because it mentions the Palace Saloon 5K, which is near the top of my list. It is no secret that I'm a co-director of the Palace Saloon Run along with Reid Vannoy. Hohmeister had some kind words about the Palace 5K in particular and Tallahassee running in general, specifically in this passage:

The good news is that Tallahassee is the perfect place to run. The city is full of lightly traveled neighborhood roads and miles of trails. The cold days in winter are never too cold, and even in the heat of summer, an early run isn't too bad. We have hills, but no mountains. We have great running columnists in the Democrat's sports section, a discovery I made only this past year. We have an incredibly active track club (Gulf Winds, at www.gulfwinds.org). And we have popular races that put lie to the phrase "the loneliness of the long-distance runner." (I recommend you start as I did, with April's Palace Saloon 5K run. A pack of more than 1,000 people take on an easy course, and there's free beer at the finish line. I had no doubt I would finish that race!)

For those words alone the Chamber of Commerce should commend Hohmeister, or at least quote him. Especially if they have a program to promote Tallahassee tourism through running. (Which they don't, but why not?)

If you'd like to check out the entire column, follow the link below. You'll have to do it soon, before the Democrat drops the story from their site and the link goes stale. Remember to click the "Recommend" button while you're there.

Links:

• Mark Hohmeister: Put on that silly Santa hat and start running
  http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20091219/COLUMNIST06/912190312/-1/columnists