Running Piper

Back in March, the band performed at the Irish Italian Festival like we do every year. This year they had a fund raiser where you ran around the parking lot three times while carrying a pint of Guiness on a plate. Whoever got to the finish line with the most beer in their stien won (NOT who got their first). None of my bandmates seemed interested, even though the prize for first place was $200! I signed up to represent, got my filled stien on a plate, and got in line. Interestingly enough, as we're waiting for "GO!", I'm looking around and I see all these people drinking their beer! Finally we get our "GO!" and off we run behind a golf-cart pace car.





Here I go! Yes, I am totally kilted out with an Argyle jacket and everything! Unfortunately, the announcer kept yelling "Look at that guy in a dress!" everytime I would round-the-bend..

Here I am rounding the bend for my second lap. I'm flying! I learned a lot on that first lap. Mainly: Spilled beer is slippery! The hard turn made a lot of people spill their beer onto the ground, and several falls were made. Luckily, I was mostly at the front of the pack.

Last lap! Legs burning. Concentration high. Must not spill! All those years of marching in bands paid off here! Meanwhile, the announcer is still saying "Look at that man running in a dress!"

Strangely enough, we lapped the pace car on the last turn. I knew it was the end of our third time around the parking lot, so I went to the stage. Lemmingly, most everyone else kept running around. When the judges came up and started excluding people from the finalists, I knew I did fairly well because I had no beer or foam on my plate at all! Everyone else up there at least had foam on their plate.

In the end, I won first place! I got a medal (my first kinda-piping related medal!) and $200! Here is me and the second-place winner.

Since I don't drink, one of my bandmates graciously offered to partake of the spoils of winning.












Nice moustache!












Our local newspaper also snapped some good pics, and not just of me running. Click HERE and HERE to view them. Plus, to the right is the article that showed up in the paper.

All in all, a fun day for sure!

-Matthew