Running Toward My Old Home...

This was a very easy 13-mile day and I enjoyed plenty of sunshine and reminiscing as I ran through Eagle River... which is the town where I attended elementary school back in the mid-1970s. I actually got to go to my old school (Eagle River Elementary) and was greeted by students and staff outside, on the playground where I used to run and play as a child. I then got to give an assembly there and truly enjoyed my visit. Thank you to the students and staff for the very nice welcome. It was great to return to the school after 33 years! Later today I also visited Fairview Elementary School and was able to give an assembly there. The students asked some great questions and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with them. The rest of the day was spent getting supplies for "Bob", doing errands, and enjoying the Alaska sunshine. Of course, I also have to take on and off the many 'hats' that I wear near the end of a day... such as answering e-mails from teachers; updating this web site; formatting pictures and videos to post; preparing for the next day's run; carving out some time to talk to my wife and children back home; handling some matters with respect to my job back home (yes... I have a job aside from running); and more things that I have to do each day. So, from sun up to sun down my day is pretty full. In fact, I won't have an opportunity this evening to get today's pictures and videos posted. It's already 10:30 p.m. and I've been up and going since 6:30 a.m. this morning. I'll try hard to get those online for you tomorrow!

The Videos I Post At This Web Site:

I continue to receive e-mail messages from some teachers who are having difficulties viewing the videos I post at this web site. If you have not read the information I posted on April 27, you should read that (it's in bold print). It appears that most of the issues are with Mac users. If you're a Mac user and have not been able to view the WMV and AVI file format videos at this web site (which play just fine in Windows Media Player), just go to Microsoft's web page for Mac users to download a Mac-compatible Windows Media Player. You can get it for free by clicking here! It's available for Mac OS X and for Mac 7.1 (which runs on the Macintosh Classic OS). Read Microsoft's information at the link I've provided. Please keep in mind that I am not a running computer technician. I have some teachers asking for computer-related help and you'll have to use your own resources for handling any issues you may experience. I can only do so much from the road when I'm working at completing P.A.C.E. Trek challenges. Just keep in mind that the videos that get posted here are in either AVI or WMV format, and that audio files are posted in MP3 format. That's all that I can tell you. You'll have to work on obtaining what software you need to view or hear those file types. Thank you in advance for trying to handle these matters without my assistance.

Visitor Traffic to this Web Site:

I've noticed that visitor traffic to this web site has dropped off considerably this week over last week - based on my web site visitor statistics. I find that interesting. Perhaps the initial interest in P.A.C.E. Trek has dropped off. Either way, there are fewer people visiting the site as there were even a few days ago. I truly encourage teachers to share this site with their students when possible. Just take a few minutes each day to read a portion of my journal... or view a few pictures... or read the "Nugget of Knowledge" Alaska fact... or the health/fitness "Did You Know?" section. P.A.C.E. Trek only lasts until May 12.

Progress of Teams:

I always enjoy viewing the progress of the participating teams. So far, there are 59 registered teams that have not posted any mileage since the trek began on April 20. However, 171 teams have posted mileage! Here's a list of the teams that have already completed the 500-mile challenge:

Osan Cougars, Osan Middle/High School
Osan, South Korea - 113 members; 1,628 miles to date.

Page Eagles, Page Middle School
Gloucester, Virginia 300; 1,290 miles to date.

VES Eagles 3-5, Vogelweh Elementary
Kaiserslautern, Germany - 380 members; 1,155 miles to date.

Landstuhl Icebreakers, Landstuhl Elementary
Landstuhl, Germany - 80 members; 893 miles to date.

4th Grade Eagles, Peter Kirk Elementary
Kirkland, Washington - 26 members; 834 miles to date.

Dexter Eagles, Dexter Elementary
Fort Benning, Georgia - 150 members; 765 miles to date.

The Griz Kids, Grafenwoehr Elementary
Grafenwoehr, Germany - 210 members; 716 miles to date.

Team Watts, George Watts Elementary
Durham, North Carolina - 400 members; 624 miles to date.

The Chopper's, North Springfield Elementary
Springfield, Virginia - 400 members; 612 miles to date.

Tunnelton Thunderbirds 2, Tunnelton-Denver Elementary
Tunnelton, West Virginia - 79 members; 611 miles to date.

Tunnelton Thunderbirds 1, Tunnelton-Denver Elementary
Tunnelton, West Virginia - 78 members; 603 miles to date.

Audubon Owls, Audubon Elementary
Redmond, Washington - 445 members; 603 miles to date.

E.D.M.S. Polar Bears, Esther Dennis Middle School
Dayton, Ohio - 110 members; 600 miles to date.

Warriors, George Long Elementary
Grass Lake, Michigan - 275 members; 567 miles to date.

Baxter Bobcats, Baxter Elementary
Anchorage, Alaska - 358 members; 528 miles to date.

VES Eagles K-2, Vogelweh Elementary
Kaiserslautern, Germany - 450 members; 511 miles to date.

I congratulate the 16 teams above who have already accomplished the 500 miles... and are still going! P.A.C.E. Trek 2009 started only 10 days ago, so the numbers shown above are pretty impressive. Some teams have decided to pace along with me and to log mileage that is comparative to the weekly mileage I'm logging. No matter how your team is doing the miles (pacing along with me or running ahead), I'm just glad to see that the kids are moving forward! Good job!

Still Need To Report:

Here's a list of teams that have not yet reported any mileage. If your team is listed, please login and post your mileage to date.

Spring Hill High School
Sullivans Elementary
Beeber Middle School
Littleville Elementary
Robinson Barracks Elementary/MS
Cook-Wissahickon Elementary (3 teams)
Roch Courreges Elementary (3 teams)
Cummings Elementary School
Duncan Falls Elementary
Eugene McCray Community Center
Fell Charter School
Foothills Montessori School
Shady Spring Elementary (2 teams)
Kalispell Middle School (3 teams)
Galata Elementary
Green River High School
Hellgate Elementary (3 teams)
Hellgate Middle School
Hohenfels Elementary
Kathleen Burns Preparatory School
Klatt Elementary
Lake Hood Elementary
Littleville Elementary
Sullivans Elementary (3 teams)
First Ward Recreation Center
Media Elementary
Esperanza Middle School
Rae C. Stedman Elementary
Alberton School
Perkinston Elementary
Pitkas Point School
Phoenix Extended Day Treatment
Shady Spring Elementary
Lakenheath Elementary
Round Valley School (2 teams)
Silver Mesa
St. Peter Claver Regional Catholic School
Casselton Elementary
Alice B. Beal Elementary
Paxson Elementary
Etna Elementary
The Village for Families & Children
Sherrod Elementary (3 teams)
YMCA of Laurens

That's all from this Alaska milepost! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to run back here tomorrow.