Auburn KD Shamrock 5K

Wow!! It has really been a long time since I have raced. The KD Shamrock 5K was a good way to shake the cobwebs loose before the ING Atlanta Marathon at the end of the month. I had to sign up for something to get me motivated to train hard and consistently.

My wife was a KD and 2 of our babysitters for our twins are KDs. As you would suspect, there were a lot of 18-24 year old participating in this race. It was also very, very cold for this race, and I was ill-prepared. The built-in briefs in the running shorts provide little warmth. I met up with a friend of mine, Adam, that was running in his first race ever. I signed up on the day of the race, as there was only a $2 penalty for late registration, and I thought I could manage that. It was well organized and got through the line quickly.

The race went through a scenic route around downtown Auburn, with great views of Jordan-Hare Stadium, Samford Hall, Toomer's Corner, and the new basketball arena under construction. The start and finish corrals, timing, and results were well managed, as always, by the local running club, AORTA. The route was quite hilly and offer numerous challenges for such a short course of a 5K.

I was really pleased with my results, considering the hiatus. I finished second in my age group, although there weren't a large number of runners over 30. Here is a link to the results, in case any one out there is looking for their own time in this event.

New Military Working Dog Kennel

Now, I know there is no excuse for the long absence since my last post, but I wanted fill you in on a part of my life that has been all consuming for the last 6 months. About 18 months ago, a tornado passed through Ft. Benning, Georgia. The tornado damaged several building, including the existing home of one of the main clearing houses for military working dogs (MWD) that are deployed overseas, including Iraq and Afghanistan. This project was already planned but was accelerated because of their damaged facility. We worked non-stop to get them a new facility constructed, working almost every weekend...Saturdays and Sunday. Here is a look at what we did from September 1st-February 9th.

We took a previously developed, and then abandoned, 2 acre lot that was mostly a dumping ground of concrete, asphalt, and scrap metal.

We built a 7000 square foot kennel building with 25 interior/exterior kennel runs, a 2500 square foot administration building with a vet exam room, and a 500 square foot storage building for the training area obstacles.

Here is a look at a little more of the finished product. The dogs that will be housed here are deployed 4-5 times before retirement and are out there on patrol saving American lives consistently. It was really rewarding to hear some of their stories and know that we were doing a small part at facilitating their success.

Here is a look at the whole complex and buildings. These dogs work as bomb dogs, drug dogs, military police dogs, and combat dogs. They go through rigorous and specialize training and can be worth over $40,000 at the conclusion of their training.

This was really a state of the art facility with just about every amenity for the dogs to be comfortable and well treated. We understand from the Kennel Master that PETA has even been invited to the complex to view what we built.