#Goofyinaday: Michael and Eddie's Epic Adventure, Finale

Team Tizzel is proud to continue our series of guest posts by our friend Michael Miller chronicling his adventure with Eddie McCoy to tackle 39.3 miles of racing in one day; and in two different states. Today's post will cover Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon and close out the series.

Follow Michael and Eddie on Twitter

Earlier posts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Part 4: Where We Take a Bus Ride and Eddie Shows Me His Tiny Buns

While I’ve been running in some capacity for over 30 years, it doesn’t necessarily define me as a person. It’s just a part of who I am, like my being left handed, or awesome, or being extremely humble. While Eddie has been running for under two years at this point, his running has redefined how others see him. Though I believe his weight loss and transition from a sedentary lifestyle reflect the strength of character he’s always had. With all of his hard work and effort, Eddie has had a lot of successes in his running and may one day win a competitive race outright, just like I have done, but my great humility prevents me from pointing this out. Yet despite our varied running backgrounds, I can safely say #GoofyInADay started out more as a sense of adventure than being about running. I can also say that our final run at Wine & Dine morphed into so much more than an adventure.

As I’ve written about for another post in the Team AllEars Blog, one of the oldest, most respected distance races in the world is the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. A 56-mile race, Comrades has a very strict 12 hours cut-off, which most people cannot even imagine making. That being said, one of the key things that have helped people complete this race was the creation of the concept of “The Bus.” To some, The Bus is a fancier term for a pace group, which has become more common in races of all distances; however The Bus is more than that. The Bus is a group of runners whom develop an identity over the life of the race, setting a pace and tone that gets the whole group across the finish line.

With our late arrival to the start at Disney’s Wide World of Sports we quickly dropped our gear off at bag check and found our teammates for what can only be called "A Second Obligatory Group Photo". I say second because the group already did one without the two of us since everyone wasn’t 100% sure we were going to make it on time. Due to my humility, I tried to squeeze in unnoticed at the front of the group, but I still think you can see me in the picture. I like to think of that first picture as the Directors Cut – the version everyone probably really wanted to have, but they had to accept Eddie and my presence and take the second one. After the photo, it was off to our corral, where 12 members of Team AllEars formed our Bus for the race. Our Bus Driver was Rich Gairing, a good friend and the man in the Viking hat in the photo at the beginning of these blogs. As the Bus Driver, Rich was responsible for getting the 12 of us to our final destination…..before the cut off, which means that besides having to run his own race he willingly becomes responsible for the races of others.

So from the sound of fireworks and the surge of runners until we crossed the finish line it was no longer about #GoofyInADay for Eddie and me. For 13.1 miles everything was about the group. How were people holding up? Were we still together? Who was going to take the next individual photo in front of a mile marker sign? Throughout it all, we stuck together, joked and swapped positions. For most of the race, Eddie and I bounced between people and ran with old friends and team members we had never run with before. The ease in which we ran belied the fact that we had already completed a full marathon a couple of hundred miles to the north, and my humility prevents me from even mentioning it. Not once during the entire run did the fact that with each step we were running further on that day than we had ever run in a 24 hour period ever register on Eddie's or my consciousness. And as we crossed the finish line in 3 waves of 4 people, our Bus made it’s destination having some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a race.

Since I recounted the actual run in our Team AllEars Blog, I am just going to hit some of the highlights of the race. For example, the floats from last year’s 20 Mile Spectacular actually look very cool at the half way point in a half marathon….though they still aren’t Spectacular. And the Osborne lights are amazing to run through, though Eddie did make us stop and sing a Christmas Carol to be used for a podcast….however due to an inability on our part to follow instructions, it is now relegated to the blooper reel.

One of the highlights for me was the Ugly Christmas Sweater wicking shirts that Eddie, Rich and I wore for the race. While it was a little warm running in long sleeve shirts in the Florida humidity, we got two of my favorite race photos. One of The Three Wise (Ass) Men sitting on a bench in the Osborne Lights section contemplating life and maybe why we were wearing long sleeve shirts. The other is a corresponding picture from Eddie’s Go Pro that shows the rest of the group standing there taking pictures of us. In my mind these two pictures taken together show the camaraderie we all felt that evening….while also filling Eddie's and my not so subtle need to be the center of attention.

With all of this, the best part of this race is the After Party. The unique aspect of Wine & Dine is it allows runners to hit EPCOT's World Showcase after hours to enjoy the Food & Wine Festival. After a long race, any picture you would see shows a group of tired runners torn between wanting to “after-party” and wanting to go to bed. It was here, in our Savannah Finisher Shirts and Medals, that Eddie and I concluded our #GoofyInADay.

Having never attended Food & Wine, Eddie made a point of directing me to one of his favorite after race snacks at the Germany Pavilion. Two Sausage Sandwiches, consisting of 8 inch long and narrow sausages on two short 4 inch rolls. And though they were tasty, I will leave you with the same uncomfortable feeling that Eddie gave me to wrap up our day’s events when he held them out to me and said with a smile on his face “Michael, take a look at my tiny buns".

WAR EAGLE

Here's Eddie's video from the Wine and Dine:

 

Team Tizzel would like to thank Michael for taking the time to chronicle their adventure and allow us to share this great content with everyone. You are welcome to write more posts for Team Tizzel anytime. Thanks also to Eddie for all the great photos and videos that showed us all how excellent and epic your weekend was.

 

#Goofyinaday: Michael and Eddie's Epic Adventure, Part 3

Team Tizzel is proud to continue our series of guest posts by our friend Michael Miller chronicling his adventure with Eddie McCoy to tackle 39.3 miles of racing in one day; and in two different states. Today's post will cover the Road trip from Savannah to Orlando.

Follow Michael and Eddie on Twitter
Earlier posts: Part 1, Part 2

Part 3: Where We Drive to Orlando, Eddie Learns That It's Better to Write the Blog and We Discover the True Meaning of War Eagle

With a 5 to 6 hour drive and another race ahead of us, obviously our number one priority after crossing the finish line was to immediately head to the Race Merchandise tent. Without this stop we wouldn't have RnR Savannah Finisher Shirts to wear to the Wine and Dine after party. Because let's face it, the only reason to run a marathon and half marathon in the same day is so you can "not so subtly" let everyone know that you did it. The hardest part is the nonchalant strut and conveying a false air of indifference of doing #goofyinaday as we walk around Epcot in our finisher shirts and marathon medals, but we had a long car ride to practice.

Now Eddie is a quasi-pseudo-celebrity in the marathoning community, which I am constantly reminded of whenever we run races together. Usually it entails someone coming up to us after a race as we are eating in a McDonalds or walking back to the hotel. Complete strangers come up to him in groupie mode and introduce themselves and talk of hearing him on The Marathon Show, seeing him on Facebook or some other forum. As the person with him, you either become invisible or get the luxury of taking pictures of the two of them. In this case I got to take Eddie's pick with Marathon Man, another quasi-pseudo-celebrity in the marathon world. While I've come to accept the role of invisible sidekick photographer when we run together, my heart goes out to Eddie's wife, who in my opinion should get to punch Eddie in the arm every time it happens....which I like to think would leave him with a constantly bruised shoulder.

Back at the hotel, Eddie quickly cleaned up so he could watch the Auburn game while I got ready. Now this wouldn't have bothered me except for the fact that just as I was about to relieve myself before getting in the shower Eddie started screaming "GO GO GO GO, YOU CAN DO IT YEAH WAR EAGLE." After ascertaining that I didn't leave the door open and his screams had nothing to do with me but something happening in the game, I was finally able to mentally relax enough to finally be able to go to the bathroom. Interesting fact, people screaming "GO" when you are about to pee makes it harder to do so.....go figure.

We got on the road relatively quickly after cleaning up. I drove so that Eddie could download his video and pictures from the race to make "A Fast Eddie Video" of our adventures. Eddie makes videos of all of his races and by doing this now, he could post it before we ran Wine and Dine. This would meet the dual purpose of reminding people who didn't realize from our constant tweets and Facebook posts that we were doing #goodyinaday, but also to help solidify his quasi-pseudo-celebrity status. In this case though, since I would be prominently displayed in the video, who knows, maybe someone would recognize me for a change.

One thing I learned during our drive is that Eddie shrieks like a girl. A pre-pubescent one at that. And unlike other character flaws, this could obviously not be overlooked. And when he's shrieking "oh my god we are out of gas," it really cannot be overlooked. To say that we were driving with the needle below E is not an understatement. In my defense, I couldn't see the lower half of the fuel gauge (or the brightly glowing empty light) due to the angle the steering wheel was set, but that didn't seem to mollify Sir-Shrieks-A-Lot in the passenger seat. Since we were about to pass an exit, and the sign indicated the next one being a dozen miles down the road, my priority was to cross two lanes quickly and safely. Eddie's priority was to try and take a picture of the fuel gauge to post to Facebook ASAP. We made the exit and took a right to find a gas station. We went right because it was down hill and we weren't 100% certain we would make it if we went up hill to the left. We did, but you wouldn't know it from the way Eddie kept verbally reliving the horrors of how bad it would have been if we ran out of gas. I am not saying it was non-stop, however I started to look for cars with Auburn decals in the hopes if getting him to yell WAR EAGLE out the window.

With the exception of Eddie's near death out of gas experience, overall the trip was uneventful. Lunch at Five Guys, a pic at the "Welcome to Florida" sign and heavy traffic as we closed in on Walt Disney World. After a quick check-in at Pop Century (a Disney hotel), we headed over to Boardwalk (another Disney hotel) to meet up with Eddie's wife Anna to get our gear before hopping on the bus to the race start. At this point two things occurred that was extremely annoying. First, we waited for over an hour to get on a bus due to what appeared to be poorly organized planning on Disney's part. For the first time we thought our #goofyinaday was at risk as we might not make the start due to the extremely long gaps in between buses. Second, while we were waiting, it happened. Someone yelled from the back of the line "hey Eddie, love what YOU are doing today, YOU are so inspirational." Forget Anna punching Eddie. Right then I wanted to....I mean seriously, there were two of us on this adventure and while I may not be a quasi-pseudo-celebrity this was getting a bit much.

Finally the bus came and we were away from Eddie's latest groupie and off to the second race of the day.



The True Meaning of War Eagle

Whenever I talk with Eddie and Anna about why they yell War Eagle, they always stumble through statements like "there are three versions," and "after the civil war there was a game," etc. etc. Like most legends, I figure there is a kernel of truth in what they've told me, however I tried to weed through the legend to come up with what I suspect is close to the truth.

Shortly after the Civil war, two good ole southern boys, Aubrey Burns and Clem "Sonny" Kladdilehopper were doing what good southern boys are known for...drinking shine. And as happens when men drink shine, they started to talk trash with each other. Who was smarter, who could create a University in their own name because they were so so smart...and eventually, who would have a better college football team. Because let's face it, drunk men talk sports. After much trash talk they both focused on how cool their mascot would be. Both chose a tiger, but could not agree as to whose tiger would be better. So they came up with a stupid dare to settle things. Because let's face it, drunk men talking sports come up with stupid dares.

Down the road was an ornery old Colonel from the War. The reason why he was so ornery was because he apparently had to ride a horse up and down the historic cobblestone streets of Savannah, but that's not important for this story. What was important was the fact that he had a collection of prized animals...mostly chickens, but also a Tiger Striped Tabby named Biscuit. Our two southern boys decided whoever could capture Biscuit would claim the title of best college mascot....or some such thing as they were too drunk by this time to remember why they were after that darn cat, but after it they were.

So as the two of them raced, or more accurately, stumbled through the Colonels farm for most of the night they both managed to grab ahold of the cat at the same time. A wrestling match ensued. And as Aubrey was about to wrest the cat free from Clem, Clem yelled at the top of his lungs the Colonel was coming, startling Aubrey who stumbled backwards and fell over in a puff of feathers. And in this chaos Clem dropped Biscuit and ran off.

Now here's where it gets interesting. The Colonel, Sanders was his name, arrived shotgun in hand and pointed at Aubrey who had by this point staggered back to his feet. Through the yells of the Colonel, and through his own shine induced haze, Aubrey realized two things. One, the cloud of feathers was caused by his crushing of the Colonels prized rooster. And two, unless he came up with a compelling story as to what happened to said rooster, he was going to end up meeting a similar fate, albeit at the end of Col. Sanders shotgun. It was at this point he yelled out WAR EAGLE...which caused the Colonel to yell out the same in shock.

So in this field, covered in feathers, Aubrey Burns concocted a wild tale of "a War Eagle attacking the Colonels chickens, which he interrupted before it killed them all....so you see, um, he sorta saved all of the other chickens, and really, um should be thanked, by maybe getting something to eat.....or even better, to drink." Because let's face it, drunk southern boys tired from doing stupid dares get hungry. Though this fanciful tale had more holes in it than a sieve, the Colonel chose to believe him. Maybe it was because he himself had partaken of the shine, or maybe it was because he admired Aubrey Burns moxie. Either way, he took that chicken, fried it up and they had a celebration of the heroic gallantry showed that day. And through drinks of shine and ever increasing shouts of War Eagle, two legends were born. One, was of a heroic deed marked by the clarion call of War Eagle. Something which Aubrey Burns eventually passed down to the vocational school that still carries his name. The second was when Colonel Sanders started to exaggerate his prolific use of seasoning. And when he eventually moved to Kentucky, he would tell people that the salt and pepper he used that day was really 57 herbs and spices in his "secret recipe."

So whenever you buy a bucket of chicken, drink some spirits, or see a fellow Auburn alum....feel free to add your own voice to the call of War Eagle.

Next Up Part 4: Where We Take a Bus Ride and Eddie Shows Me His Tiny Buns.

#Goofyinaday: Michael and Eddie's Epic Adventure, Part 2

Team Tizzel is proud to continue our series of guest posts by our friend Michael Miller chronicling his adventure with Eddie McCoy to tackle 39.3 miles of racing in one day; and in two different states. Today's post will cover the Rock and Roll Marathon - Savannah, GA.

Follow Michael and Eddie on Twitter

Earlier posts: Part 1

Part Two: Where We Freak Each Other Out While Running A Marathon

Eddie is fast. Boston qualifying fast. And like most character flaws that your friends may have, it's just something you just have to accept -- like a bad comb-over or people who pronounce ignorant as "ignernt." He means no harm by it. Yet when we walked into Corral 3 for the start of the race, Eddie's "I'm dropping back from Corral 1" to the lady checking bibs earned him some not-so-gentle ribbing from me. With a target time of 4:30 we should have been starting in Corral 11, however due to all of the day's events we used one of my better finish times to start our race as early as possible. So it was after a beautiful baritone rendition of the National Anthem and the quick release of Corrals 1 & 2, we headed up Bay Street: one of the many historic streets we would run today.

While Eddie and I had run 3 marathons together prior to Savannah, the pace in those races wasn't set by either of us. In those races we ran with a group of friends and we went with the general pace of the group. So going into this race, while I knew how fast Eddie could run, I was a bit of an unknown pacing quantity to him. All Eddie knew was our goal was to run 4:30 with a 30 minute contingency. What Eddie didn't know was how I planned to run those four and a half hours. My plan was to run the first half pretty hard, targeting under 2 hours, followed by an easing of the pace to run the second half in 2:30. Now admittedly, this isn't a very logical plan when embarking on a 39.3 daily goal, but I never claimed to be logical. As for Eddie, it would have been easier if I had shared this with him, and based upon his reaction for the next two hours it would have been easier on me as well.

Every marathon has what is termed "junk miles." These are miles, usually with lots of twists and turns, through less scenic portions of a city with the sole purpose of adding distance to add up to the 26.2 needed for a marathon. For Savannah, these miles are earlier in the race. While there wasn't much to look at, it would have been hard to really appreciate anything as Eddie was giving me constant updates of our pace. It started at the first mile marker where Eddie informed me with some nervousness we were running in the low 8 minutes per mile pace. Since Eddie was expecting a 9 to 10 minute pace based upon our goal, I am sure he had visions of my self destruction destroying our #GoofyInADay. So for the next few miles while I was receiving more frequent questions like if I "was comfortable," or "needed to adjust" pace, I finally told Eddie of my plan. While he may have accepted what I told him, it was very obvious for the rest of the race he wasn't 100% certain it would work, if I had any idea what I was doing...or if I was crazy.

 

As we returned to the historic downtown area from running our junk miles - WAR EAGLE - we got to see some of the best that Savannah had to offer. Beautiful parks, lots of spectators - WAR EAGLE - historic buildings and musical entertainment. Running through these areas was so much fun, I admit I didn't notice all of the uneven roads we were running on - WAR EAGLE. Now what I did notice, and you probably have as well at this point, was that Eddie had what I have dubbed "War Eagle Tourette's." Eddie is a huge Auburn fan, and our adventure was on Game Day, as Auburn was playing (if you want to know, you can Google it yourself, as I really don't care enough about who they were playing to do it myself). War Eagle Tourette's is a condition where when one Auburn fan sees another they immediately yell "War Eagle" which is then returned by a call of the same. Therefore, being as we were running in the south we were lucky enough to encounter at least a dozen Auburn fans, including one standing on an 8 foot step ladder holding an Auburn sign. This meant that for 26.2 miles I was treated to unannounced screams of War Eagle.....to the point I eventually felt like someone from an old World War II movie ready to hit he ground whenever someone would yell "incoming."

After the short stint in historic downtown we hit the interstate and headed out into the suburbs. This included - WAR EAGLE - runs through gentrified neighborhoods, parks and local stadiums. The highlight thought is the 3 or so miles we ran through Savannah State University. Here, we not only ran on the schools track and through it's well manicured grounds, we were treated with a multitude of student groups and associations out there cheering us on. From cheerleaders and the team mascot giving high-fives to the raucous marching band to academic and Greek groups, all were high energy and - WAR EAGLE - supportive. It was so much fun that there is even an unconfirmed rumor that one of us may have actually "twerked" with members of the band's dance corps. Since we were in the second half of the marathon at this point, we had slowed our pace, though it was still faster than our target 4:30 and Eddie was still suggesting things like, "hey, why don't we walk at every mile marker" in an attempt to keep me from potential self destruction. I would have found this cute if I weren't so focused on blocking Eddie's view of any Auburn fans along the course.

 

At Mile 23 as we headed back the interstate towards town, I got to admit I started to have some perverse fun with Eddie. As I indicated, Eddie is fast. At this point when we were on a path to a sub 4:10 finish I announced that I was starting to think about our evening run and was going to dial it back. While I can't swear to it, I believe his mouth actually fell open. So for the next few miles --WAR EAGLE - we stopped for even more pictures than we had been taking, and I would spontaneously announce let's walk. This was killing Eddie as our time started to creep up and whenever I said "hey, we are better than our goal" he would implore me with the fact that we could go well under that. Consider this the warped humor of slower runner torturing his faster counterpart. As we closed in on the finish line, Eddie started to - WAR EAGLE - run 5, then 10 feet ahead of me. When he got too far, I would announce a walk break or have him take a picture of me - including one where a police officer was handcuffing me after he made his Lieutenant turnaround so as not to be a witness. At this point Eddie "threatened" to leave me if I didn't sped up....which was met with my trump card. I told him that if he left me, I would tell everyone that despite my agreeing to doing #GoofyInADay with him, he left me on the course by myself just to get a faster time. Funny thing is, we really like each other, yet this is how we show it.

We finished in 4:16:47.

















Part 3: Where We Drive to Orlando, Eddie Learns That It's Better to Write the Blog and We Discover the True Meaning of War Eagle


Eddie's video from the race is posted below: