Alumni -- old and new -- at 5K race

I was away at Lake George for a quick weekend getaway with the family -- a last hurrah of summer, you could say -- on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday, while at the Great Escape Six Flags park, I spent much of the time guarding bags and backpacks while the rest of my family and friends went and had fun on crazy rides, games, food, etc. ... of which I had no interest. During that time, I was texting with Marist alums Mike Melfi and David Raucci about the Chris Thater 5K, a highly competitive road race in Binghamton, that was held on Sunday.

How competitive is it? The winning time was 13:52. Pretty hot for a road race in these parts.

Anyway, it was kind of cool that a relatively "older" alum in Melfi (class of 99) got to hook up and race with "newer" alums David (class of 2010, he did it!) and Girma Segni (class of 2009 AND 2010).

Girm ran well, placing 12th overall in the competitive race, in 14:59. I have not spoken with Girm in a few weeks -- we have been playing phone tag, and he does not text yet -- but I am pretty sure he is planning on running a marathon in Baltimore later this fall.

David and Melfi finished together in 15:48 and 15:49. Ever the gentleman, David gave Mike the right-of-way at the finish line and they were 27th and 28th, respectively. Mike reported that David and Girma were wearing their Marist alumni gear -- good for them!

After 5 years with us, it's going to be odd not having those guys on the team, but I know they will continue to represent us well as Marist running alums.