Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

We're having chicken for dinner tonight, but I'm not giving away a chicken dinner here. I just like the phrase because I first heard it in a great movie. I can't remember which one. Slumdog Millionaire maybe? I don't know.

I'm giving away the tiara medal hanger from my blog post on Friday. Only two people even entered the giveaway. Guess you all don't want second hand used stuff, even for free?

My process for choosing the winner was very scientific.

First I did this:

Took quite a bit of work and planning.

Then my daughter chose.

She can't read yet. There was no chance for bias.

And the winner of not-a-chicken-dinner is Kelly! Kelly, I'll get in touch with you to crown you with the medal hanger tiara.

Since I mentioned Big Sur in the comments on my last post, let's talk a little about destination running. I've never been a destination runner. I mean, I run from one destination to the next, often filling up my pockets with the mail (we have a PO Box), or the stroller with groceries, and I've even been known to run home, stroller-less, with a quart of heavy cream in one hand. I needed to make (eat) those cinnamon rolls, and I needed to run. Both priorities were of equal importance. Destination running... travelling to a destination, specifically to run a race. No. I don't do it. I live in an area with plenty of races, my husband doesn't care about racing, so I don't spend our vacation money on travel expenses to places we wouldn't ordinarily choose, just because I want to do a race there.

One exception: I've run the Bolder Boulder and Boulder Backroads. The two races were about as different as races can be in the same city. Both excellent races, because my sister lives in Boulder, so I visit there anyway. Sadly, Boulder Backroads doesn't exist any longer. Loved the course. Almost entirely on dirt roads, very small crowd, and my 2002 introduction to Boulder born Izze. Bolder Boulder is huge. Amazingly well run, and a fun way to spend the morning in the city. The citizens' heats are well spaced out. I don't think I even went to my corral at the start line until about two hours after the first citizens' heat started. The elites run a smaller course, after the citizens, that is laps around several blocks, so spectators can watch them go by multiple times.

I have a short list of races I want to do because they get great reviews, the courses look amazingly gorgeous, and I wouldn't mind vacationing there anyway. On my list:

1. Big Sur Marathon
2. New York City Marathon. I'll probably never do this one, because it's crazy expensive and the logistics are nightmarish at best, according to people I know who have done it.
3. Boston Marathon. See #2. Will probably never it for similar reasons, plus I have no intentions of becoming a fast enough runner to qualify. I don't want to train hard enough to run fast enough to qualify.
4. Prince of Wales Island Marathon. My husband would like to see Alaska via cruise. I wouldn't. I've been on one cruise, he's never been on one. I prefer land-based vacations. So our compromise, if you could call it that, is not visiting Alaska. Everybody loses, yay!
5. Honolulu Marathon
6. Athens Marathon. I would tolerate crowds and logistics for this one, without question. It's a classic.

What's on your list? What should I consider adding? I don't like crowds. I don't like complicated logistics. I only even do Cherry Blossom or Army Ten-Miler when my running friend from Ohio is in DC, and then I meet her to run together. (Ohio friend, if you're reading, I hope you're touched that I push aside my dislike for crowds and complicated logistics to see you annually. ;-) )