I started writing the book, The Race Against Time back in January of 2025.  The idea for the book, however, was conceived many years earlier when I was writing a series of blog posts I grouped in a category called “Couch to 5k.” My goal during that time was to write about losing weight and training for a 5K fun run. I ended up being successful on both counts. At the time, I was about to turn 60. Instead of continuing on in both pursuits, however, I got caught up in finishing another book I was writing and renovating a summer cottage we had just purchased.

Years later, when I began penning my novel about my cross country experience for my new book, it occurred to me that I should be out exercising and getting my weight back under control. I reasoned, how can I effectively capture the experience if I’m sitting home on my couch, so I started walking—a lot! As the days passed, and the weather got warmer, I became gripped by nostalgia. Maybe it was due to the 1970s music I was listening to while I walked or perhaps the sight of the university I graduated from as I passed by it on a daily basis. Whatever the reason, my mind became focused on what it would like to be twenty-two again, and wouldn’t you know it, the desire to start running again returned. Now that I’m in my late 60s, getting started with running was easier said than done. Despite all the aches and pains of asking my body to do things it hadn’t done in almost a decade I was able to finish another 5k this week. The medallion I am wearing is an age category award for finishing in third place in the 60-69 years old bracket.

It was truly a surreal experience running the 5k on a cross country course at the university I attended forty-five years ago while listening to 1970s tunes and reminiscing about being a member of the cross country team back in 1979. Unfortunately, I lacked the stamina to finish the race with an amazing sprint like I did back in the good old days.

What made this race even sweeter was the fact that it occurred on my forty-fifth wedding anniversary. My wife, Patty, came to cheer me on.  Those of you who read the book might see the connection. It was forty-five years ago that she came to cheer on a boy (me) in a cross country meet. That fact was one of the many truths that the book, The Race Against Time is based on.