Went out with some friends yesterday for one last get-together before I head off to Japan and before they head off to thier homes. We were going to walk around Malmo and see the sights, do some shopping, etc. but it was raining as it does so often these days. So, We ended up in a pub to watch the soccer games. Right now there is the European Championships so everyone is crazy about soccer. Last night's games were fun because it seemed like no one in the pub really cared who won. no matter which team scored a goal, everyone would celebrate. Here are just a couple pictures from the night. Just remembered my camera at the last minute so i missed most of the excitement.

Just a quick note to correct yesterday's post. I got my official time today and it was 2:16:22:85. I came in just 1 minute and 10 seconds behind my friends. Furthermore, I beat the guy behind me by a full 1.2 seconds. Not bad for the amount of training I put in. I'm keeping my eye open for another race anytime soon. I'd like to get my time down under 2 minutes. Only next time I swear I'll prepare better.

Ok, this will be the last time I mention the Broloppet...maybe. But they just put some pictures up on the web for us to buy and since I don't think I will have any other pictures, I thought I'd pass them along. Go to this site. On the left hand side under the credit card symbols there is a place to 'select event'. Select Broloppet 2004. Then below where it says 'Enter entry number' Type in 2918. It will show my finishing line photos. I am a bit confused by them though because in one picture it shows a woman behind me in a white T-shirt but i could have sworn it was a man in a black T-shirt and I checked the times and sure enough, the person coming in after me was named 'Brian'. But, I guess it doesn't really matter. Also, check out pictures of my teammates, entry numbers 1826-1831. Incidentally, I'm also in 2 pictures under 1826. Don't know why they didn't include them in my batch.

I thought I'd write something here although I'm pretty sure that not even my mother checks this page anymore since I havn't written for so long. But, I've had an exciting day so I thought I'd share it with whoever happens to come across my page.

I ran the Broloppet today. It's a 1/2 marathon (i.e. 21 Kilometers/12 miles) that starts on a man-made island in Denmark, crosses the bridge to sweden (the bridge is about 10kilomters long) and around Malmo.

I have not been training as much as I had planned for this race. Although I play rugby at least 2 times a week and ride my bike everywhere (including rugby practices 1 1/2 hour away), I have been jogging on average once every 2 weeks for the past 3 months. I was sure that I'd die before reaching the end of the bridge. I surprised myself by running the whole way-I even managed to run while drinking at 3 of the water stops (I almost drowned at the fourth so I admit, I walked just long enough to take 2 gulps and then i was off again.)

I ran with two of my "teammates" for the first 15 kilomters before they left me behind but I kept going and finished just about 2 mintues behind them. The finish was the most exciting part. We finished in the Malmo stadium and as I always seem to have pleanty of energy at the end of a race, I picked up the pace for the last 200 meters or so. I passed everyone and when I was the front runner with about 75 meters to go when I saw 'him' coming up on my right side out of the corner of my eye. I would not be defeated. It turned into a sprinting race and in the end, I was the victor by a hair. My friends tell me later that the announcer was broadcasting 'our race' over the loudspeaker saying something like 'Here comes Kelly. And coming up behind her is 'Sven.' But NO she won't be outdone! There they go! Look at them go! And it's Kelly by a nose!' I'm not sure if they were pulling my leg or not because, even though my name was printed on my number plate, I don't know how the announcer could have seen it. But, they promise it's true and it makes me feel pretty good so I'm going to choose to believe it.

Anyways, although I won't know my exact time until I get the results in the mail, it was about 2 hours and 20 minutes. I'm happy with that and looking forward to my next race!