On Sept. 11th was one of my favorite road races of the year. The Canal Diggers Race in Worcester, Ma. is a real blast every year. The weather always seems to cooperate, the course is always a quite flat route, (which brings out many runners that might not come to a harder course), there's always a hugh barbecue and Harpoon provides the well known best recoop nutrition known to the entire running population of the world. Carbs in quantity.

Last year I brought my daughter to run her first ever road race to the Canal Diggers. I did it because I knew she would meet great people and enjoy the festive spirit. She had a great time as did I because the people and atmosphere are great.

As soon as you arrive you can feel it's going to be a great time. The volunteers start your day with smiles and a warm sense of welcome. I talk a lot about the people that volunteer to help put on a race. So, I have decided to make this first entry about them. There are 2 more entries after this so check them out, too.

First you have the Hydrive Energy girls. (l-r) Shannon, Colleen, and Liz. They provided free bottles of Hydrive before and after the race.

To the right right of the Hydrive ladies is me with Christy. Christy was the "guardian of the beer". She made sure the beer line kept moving in an orderly manner. And she did a fine job in making sure I had as many of the nutritional beverages as I might need.

I the middle picture is Kathy. With that smile at the registration table I almost didn't care if there was a race or not.

Bob was mister hospitality. He was in the middle of things. Directing the runners, answering questions, helping people out with whatever they needed. And he did it all with a smile and a welcoming tone in his voice.

Kim was the person that most runner and walkers love to see. She was one of the people handing out the always sought out and cherished shirts. This included the one that I got and having it given to me by Kim with that smile made it seem that much better.

Three years in a row now I've been running the Canal Diggers Race. Three years in a row I've had a great time and took away wonderful memories, three years in a row people like these folks have set the tone and atmosphere for a fun enjoyable day.

"MY HAT IS OFF TO YOU ONCE AGAIN". "THANKS" for a great day.

CHECK OUT THE NEXT TWO ENTRIES ABOUT THE RACE DAY