Confessions from a squealer

SQUEALER: n. (pron. Skwee - lur) A fan \ spectator at the Flying Pig Marathon.

What a day ! I could have never imagined a day in downtown Cincinnati could have ever been so life changing without getting shot. I must admit that with as enormous of a part of life as my interest in Nascar has been, (and in many ways still is) Syl pointed out to me that it has not been a subject of conversation once with me since the stock car race ended late Saturday night. pretty amazing, huh. Fact is that as big of a motor sports fan as I am, and as many races as I have attended, I have never been treated to the pure inspiration, heroism, and motivation that I was while standing in the rain at the "finish swine" Saturday. I watched my dearly beloved best friend and companion Sylvia, and our dear friend, Sylvia's teammate and my " newest sister, " Maura accomplish a very lofty goal. That will truly be a highlight of the year to me. But it was only the beginning. I saw people who would dream that excessive weight, diabetes, and a missing limb was all that was wrong with them cross the finish line, something that I couldn't do this year. This humbled me. I watched blind people with an escort cross the line. I watched people with all manner of challenges cross the line. There was an electric wheelchair bound man whose chair lost power on the course during Syl's event that was pushed across the line by a group of complete strangers but fellow competitors. Perhaps one of the most memorable moments was when a severely impaired, elderly man for whom it was a struggle to even walk, crossed the line to the wild cheers (er, squeals ) of the fans there. All of this has truly changed my life.

With this in mind, I would now like to make it public and official about my intended entry into next years 5k event. With the support of two beautiful women in my corner, and a year to train and condition, I see absolutely no reason why I couldn't cross the "finish swine" next year.

I also wanted to thank my team, Pink Princess Racing, for all the pride, motivation, and encouragement.

I love you guys

-MOSL