For the Love of Outback

Debbie and I after we met for the first time

Well, last night it finally happened.  Yes, that's right...Debbie Gibson and I finally met in real life.  For those of you who are new to the blog, you might be wondering what the big deal is.  However, there is quite the back story that you need to catch up on.  :)

See, I've been a fan of Debbie's since her teen pop sensation days of the late 1980's.  Her hit "Lost in Your Eyes" was my junior prom theme in 1989.  I've got several of her cassettes.  Yes, I may have even had a slight celebrity crush on her like a lot of my 17-year-old friends.

Fast forward to a year and a half ago.  My friends at Outback Steakhouse, who I had gotten to know through the power of Twitter, sent me 40 presents to give away in conjunction with my 40th birthday.  After giving a bunch away to friends and family and then branching out to people in the community, members of the news media, our town's mayor, and even Jungle Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo, I saved the best for last.  I was determined to try to get the final present to Debbie Gibson.  Yes, it took lots of tweets and nearly five months after my birthday to do it, but Debbie got the final present and was even nice enough to send a fun video that she filmed from the dressing room of the Tonight Show to mark the occasion.

A little over a year has passed since then.  Debbie and her publicist, Elizabeth Neff, have both been nice enough to correspond with me from time to time via Twitter.  When I noticed on Debbie's website that she would be in Ohio for a concert at the end of June, I started to think that maybe I would finally get the opportunity to meet her.  As the day of the event drew closer, I sent her a couple of messages.  Before I knew it, her production manager, Rob, was calling me on the phone and telling me what I needed to do to meet her at the concert.

I was stoked!  Despite being a big fan, I had never even seen her in concert.  And now, I was going to get to go backstage and meet her!  Was this really happening?!?

Saturday came and I made the drive to Cincinnati through lots of rain.  I was worried that maybe the concert, which was outdoors, would get canceled.  However, the rain stopped about the time that I arrived and before I knew it the time had come to meet Rob and go see her.

I don't know about you, but too often we put celebrities on pedestals as better than everyone else.  However, whatever expectations I had for meeting Debbie quickly vanished the moment I walked in her dressing room with Rob.

As soon as she saw me, she gave me a big hug and immediately acted like I was a long lost friend she had known forever.  We talked and laughed.  Next thing I knew, I realized that it was just Debbie and I hanging out and chatting as Rob had disappeared to take care of some things.  Seriously, could it have been a cooler experience.  What could have been intimidating was not because of how kind she was by going out of her way to make me feel special.  She is a very genuine person and it was really easy to talk to her.

I left the dressing room and waited outside while she made last-minute preparations for her show.  I was able to stand on stage and watch the whole performance.  It was great!  She sang lots of her old songs ("Shake Your Love", "Lost in Your Eyes", "Only in My Dreams", "Electric Youth", and "Foolish Beat",  and even a tribute medley of songs by other artists that she enjoyed back in the day.  Debbie is definitely a performer and did a great job vocally as well as interacting and connecting with the crowd.  And she has endless energy, too.  She even rolled with the punches when a stray dog got loose on stage and she led the crowd in "Who Let the Dogs Out".  She also didn't miss a beat during her rendition of "Lost in Your Eyes" when she had to whack a mosquito who had landed on her arm mid-song.

Debbie heading out to the stage to get the concert started

I had so much fun throughout the concert as she would came on and off stage walking right past me.  Before the first song, I gave her a fist bump.  I had no idea what the protocol was or what I should do.  Guess that came from working with student-athletes every day.  LOL  I also had fun chatting with Rob and her two dancers, Eddie and Buddy.  Everyone was just incredibly cordial and fun.

When the concert ended, I had the chance to talk to Debbie for a couple more minutes before she headed off to meet her fans and sign autographs at the merchandise tent.  She even paused long enough to record a quick message with me for our mutual friends at Outback.  Probably the most impressive thing for me all night was being about 45 minutes into my three-hour drive home and getting a message from her saying that she enjoyed meeting me finally.  Seriously, Debbie, you are the best!


Well, it's been a little over 24 hours now since the fun night and I'm still buzzing over how much fun it was.  We may never cross paths again (although I'm really going to push Outback to let us both be in a commercial 'cause Debbie may be a bigger fan of theirs than I am and that's saying something), but for one night she was kind enough to take the time to get to know me a little better while allowing me a glimpse into what life is like for her.  What a cool thing to do!

Thanks, Debbie, for a fun-filled evening.  Thanks, Outback, for helping to connect me with someone I know can call a friend.  And thanks, Twitter, for once again showing me that anything is possible if you work at being yourself to establish a relationship with someone else.  I can't wait to see what will happen next.

Debbie and I after the concert

And the Winner is..........

Patrick Neville - 2013 Champion

Congratulations to Patrick Neville...the overall winner of this year's Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse!  Patrick was one of only two people out of 75 in the contest to have Louisville playing Michigan for the NCAA national title and he successfully predicted that the Cardinals would be the winner which meant that he'll snag the coveted Outback Steakhouse gift certificate as he ran away from the competition with 1370 points.

Ryan Workman and Joe Rinehart tied for second place behind Patrick with 1200 points each as they will both also snag a Bloomin' Onion thanks to the generosity of Outback, who allowed me to pick a few extra winners above and beyond what we originally agreed to.  (Really that's how they always operate....exceeding expectations at every turn!)

Patrick Neville's winning bracket

Additional Bloomin' Onion winners as selected by me are: Brian Vinson, who finished in third place with 1160 points, Mike Schreiber, who was one of only two people to have picked Michigan to win it all, Rob Oller, who only got 18 of the first 32 picks right but still made it all the way to a tie for fifth place for the entry with the biggest comeback, and James Mummert because he finished dead last and there are no losers among my friends.

One other winner was Greg Rhoads, who along with Mike had picked Michigan to win the national title, as he tied with Patrick by getting both Final Four winners correct on Saturday.

Thanks again to my 75 friends who jumped in and played.  Some have done it every year and for some this was the first time you ever filled out a bracket.  Let me know if you enjoyed it.  And, make sure to drop Outback a thanks on Facebook or Twitter.

Down to the Final Four

Well, the second week of the NCAA men's basketball tournament provided more drama, upsets, and buzzer beaters as well as new winners and leaders in the fourth annual Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse.

On the first day of the Sweet Sixteen last Thursday, 11 of the 75 people correctly picked two of the eight winners while two of the group's predicted champions went down with losses by Indiana and Miami (Fla.).  The Indiana loss affected the most brackets as 21 of the 75 people in the contest had them winning the whole thing with a good portion of the remaining people having them in the championship game.  Thursday's winner of the Bloomin' Onion courtesy of Outback is Darren Mahan, who vaulted into a tie for the top spot with Nate Okuley in the overall standings.

The second day of the Sweet Sixteen saw another predicted champion go down in Kansas and also saw Nate's run atop the leaderboard finally come to an end.  There were 14 people in our contest who correctly picked three of the eight winners right.  Friday's Bloomin' Onion winner is Jace Wolford, who can use it for fuel when he runs the Boston Marathon in a little over a week, as he moved into a tie for the top spot overall with Ryan Workman, who continues to lurk as a possible winner of the overall grand prize.

Darren Mahan and Jace Wolford

On Saturday, the Elite Eight got under way and only two people out of 75 got even one of the four games picked correctly with George Hartz and Mike Schreiber each picking one winner.  Ohio State got knocked out of the tournament and with the loss there were 16 more contestants who lost their eventual predicted champion.  George took over the top spot in the contest with his one correct pick, so that earned him the coveted Bloomin' Onion for the day.

On Sunday, the Elite Eight wrapped up with six people correctly picking two of the four winners.  My bracket officially went in the dumpster with Duke's loss, but I wasn't the only one as now 33 of the 75 people have officially been eliminated from title contention with no more possible points remaining from their picks.  Eric Smith claimed the Bloomin' Onion for the day as he moved to the top of the leaderboard, but that reign will be short-lived unless Wichita State and Syracuse both win on Saturday as he has no possible points remaining either.  Patrick Neville is just 10 points behind hoping for a Louisville national championship to add a steak dinner to the Bloomin' Onion he already won.

George Hartz and Eric Smith

The action will resume on Saturday when Michigan takes on Syracuse and Wichita State tries to shock Louisville.  Very few people nationally picked this improbable Final Four, but here's hoping for two more close games and then a lot of shining moments in the championship game on Monday.

Heading to the Sweet Sixteen

Well, the Sweet Sixteen will start this evening with four games on tap as we start the second week of March Madness.  How is your bracket faring these days?  I'm in the middle of the pack tied for 48th place out of 75 people in the Six Degrees of MVNUSID contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse.

The two days of the round of 32 last Saturday and Sunday saw lots more excitement with more upsets and now three teams who had been picked as eventual champions sent home in Georgetown, Memphis, and Gonzaga.  On Saturday, nine people correctly picked six of the eight winners and to choose the Bloomin' Onion winner I went with the person who got the most correct in a row and that is my twitter pal, Ali Schwanke, who went 6-for-6 on the day before finally stumbling.  It helped her jump way up in the standings.  Then, on Sunday, one person, the always entertaining Patrick Neville, correctly picked seven of the eight results to jump from 18th place all the way up to fourth.

Ali Schwanke and Patrick Neville were the round of 32 winners

Nate Okuley, who at one point got as high in the ESPN national bracket contest as 125th, continues to lead in the overall race with 490 points although he will be taking a few hits in the next couple of rounds as he already lost some of predictions.  Ryan Workman, one of my sports information friends, is right on his heels with 480 points just waiting for him to stumble.  The two of them have different champions picked, so it will get interesting to see what happens as the games continue.

Here's hoping that the excitement of the tournament continues with more great games and buzzer beaters.  Good luck!

And Then There Were 32....

Matt Schreiber

With only four upsets on Thursday in the first big day of March Madness, we should have all known that the upsets would be more plentiful on the second day and that's what happened as Freaky Friday ensued to shake up the Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest.  Six upsets took place in all with five of them being by double digit seeds including No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast shocking No. 2 Georgetown, No. 13 LaSalle knocking off No. 4 Kansas State, No. 12 Ole Miss sending No. 5 Wisconsin packing, No. 11 Minnesota bouncing the Bruins of No. 6 UCLA, No. 10 Iowa State ending the luck of the Irish by downing No. 7 Notre Dame, and No. 9 Temple getting past No. 8 North Carolina State.

First day winner Nate Okuley continued to do well as he followed up Thursday's 14-for-16 performance by going 13-for-16 on Friday to maintain a 20-point lead on the nearest competitor, Ryan Halley, who has been in second place both days.  However, Nate's bracket took a hit with the losses by Georgetown and Wisconsin as he had them in the Final Four and Elite Eight respectively.

Five other people joined Nate in correctly picking 13 of the 16 games on Friday.  Of the six people, Matt Schreiber, one of my running friends, has the most possible points remaining as he jumped from 27th to third place in the standings.  So, Matt is the Day 2 winner of the free Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Onion.

Matt Schreiber's Bracket

I managed to hold steady in the standings despite just going 11-for-16 on Friday.  It was good enough to move me from 12th place to seventh place as the standings shifted a bunch.  And interestingly enough, I actually have the most possible points remaining of anyone in the contest with 1,560.  That won't happen, but it's fun to speculate while I can.

The round of 32 action is tipping off and things should continue to get interesting as more upsets are bound to happen.  We already had one person lose their predicted eventual champion yesterday when Georgetown went down, and I'm guessing some others will follow the way this crazy season has gone.  Enjoy the ride!  And enjoy some Outback Steakhouse!  :)

First Day of March Madness is in the Books!

Nate Okuley

Well, the first day of March Madness is in the books!  There were a couple of upsets and some close games, but all in all things went pretty much as planned with only two games that wrecked much havoc on the brackets as No. 14 seed Harvard upset No. 3 seed New Mexico and No. 12 seed Cal knocked off #5 seed UNLV.  No. 12 Oregon over No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Wichita State beating No. 8 Pitt were the other two upsets although most people didn't have Oklahoma State or Pitt going much farther.

Greg Rhoads, Justin Ross, Bruce Petersen, and Hannah Gibbs went the longest out of the 75 people in the Six Degrees of MVNUSID contest with a perfect bracket as they each survived the first 11 games before the UNLV loss knocked them all out of the ranks of the unbeaten.  My only loss through the first 12 games was when No. 14 seed Davidson blew a nine-point lead in the final 5:23 to lose 59-58 to No. 3 Marquette as I stood at 11-1 as well.

The final four games of the night proved to separate the field a little as when all the dust settled one person stood alone at the top after day one - Nate Okuley.  Nate is one of my former student workers and a great guy and he went 14-2 on day one with his only blemishes being the losses by Pitt and New Mexico.  He correctly picked the other two upsets and then went with the higher seeds the rest of the way.  He has a 10-point lead on 10 other people who each went 13-3.  I'm in the next group tied for 12th after going 12-4.

Nate's Bracket

No one lost their eventual champion on the first day although one person did have New Mexico playing in the final game.  Of the 75 people, 23 picked overall top seed Louisville to claim the title, 21 went with Indiana, and 16 chose Ohio State.  I'm one of only two people to have picked Duke.

My guess is that things will get a little more interesting as the action tips off today on the second day of action with 16 more games on tap.  It will be interesting to see how things stand at the end of the day.  Enjoy!

A big thanks to Outback Steakhouse for sponsoring the bracket.  Nate will be enjoying a free Bloomin' Onion to celebrate his successful day one.  

It's March Madness Time, Baby!

It's that time of year once again for the annual Six Degrees of MVNUSID men's college basketball March Madness bracket contest!  You can check out the results from the inaugural event, the second year, and then last year when Jim Clark beat out 68 other people to grab the coveted Outback Steakhouse gift certificate and bragging rights for the year.

March Madness is a great time of year for college hoops junkies and even the casual fan. One of the best ways to follow the action is to fill out a bracket and then root for your picks to advance. Go the safe route and pick all the higher seeds or be the one person to take an underdog Cinderella team to the big dance. Either way, it's lots of fun to participate and bragging rights as well as some good food in this case are up for grabs.

That's where my contest comes in. For the fourth straight year, my contest is free to enter so there is no excuse not to get on board. The overall winner will receive a $20 gift certificate courtesy of my friends at Outback Steakhouse. And, they have been gracious enough to throw in free Bloomin' Onion cards for the winner of each round, too. So, the steaks (er...stakes) are high and you need to sign up today!!!

To enter, just follow this link to the private group that I have set up for my friends on ESPN's site. The group name is 6 Degrees of MVNUSID if you need to search for it and the password is MVNUSID. (If you need the back story on my history with Outback, you can read it here.  They've also helped me celebrate my last two birthdays in style - 40 and 41 - if you want to click on those links.  I would also encourage you to follow them on Twitter at @Outback.)

I'll look forward to having you join in on the fun. Your entry (only one per person) must be submitted before the first game tips off on Thursday around noon ET. The First Four games are not picked in this contest.

From DL to BQ

Six months ago, I was a broken runner.  On August 24, I completed my first of what was supposed to be three legs at the incredible Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon and had to be helped to the van knowing that I wouldn't run again any time soon due to the excruciating pain in both legs.  I was crushed and beaten down.  Running was a passion for me and it had been taken from me.  I was diagnosed with stress fractures in both legs and was sidelined indefinitely.

October rolled around and I still wasn't running, but my legs were slowly starting to feel better.  When it came time for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon, I supported several friends there and ended up getting some running in and knew that maybe things were finally getting better.  Then, in November, I slowly started back in a return to running program prescribed by Dr. Darrin Bright.  There were times that I wanted to just push things forward with this plan that called for a lot of walking, but I also knew that I didn't want to feel that pain again and so I was patient.

During this time, I also took up swimming as a way to stay in shape and not use my legs.  By no means am I even an average swimmer and my technique is awful, but I still manage to get a good workout in each time and I also feel stronger because of it.  I also got lots of cycling in as another way to not have impact on the legs.

When I was finally released from the return to running program by Dr. Bright, I decided to start training for the Xenia marathon in April.  I asked my friend, Cindy Warner, for help with my plan because she had successfully used one to PR both the Erie half marathon and the Columbus full marathon this past fall.  She came up with one from the Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon that seemed to fit me pretty well and also took into account my propensity for over-training and injury.  She agreed to help hold me accountable with following the plan and so the journey began.

The first eight weeks of the plan went really well.  During that time, I made my first comeback race at the First on the First 5K in Westerville.  Since I hadn't raced in a long time, I had no idea what I was capable of.  I just went out and pushed hard and then held on at the end to finish with a 19:52 - just five seconds off my PR.  I was ecstatic.

I continued to follow the plan with solid outdoor runs and some great indoor track workouts.  Doing eight loops for a mile on the indoor track got me thinking about the Last Chance for Boston races that were coming up in February as the participants would keep circling a one-mile loop to reach their desired distance.  To some people, the thought of 26 loops (plus a .20 start) seems like pure mental torture, but after doing an 11-mile indoor track workout or 88 loops I started to believe that it might be something that I could handle.  During one of our Saturday group runs, I asked Cindy what she thought about that race.  We discussed my history of always running a great first 20-mile training run as I prepared for a marathon and my ability to go for a long distance without necessarily training by the book for it.  I am also a social runner and the thought of having people constantly around me on the loop made that a draw for me.  And, a loop course would also be the easiest type of course to get support on.  The only downsides we could come up with were that I would be under-trained and the possibility of getting injured without reaching my goal and then being forced to miss the Xenia race.

With all the information digested, I also got the feedback of a few friends who had run the race before.  Both Teri Pokosh and Ken Varian gave it good reviews and encouraged me to do it.  So, I signed up.  I decided that I would treat the race as a 20-mile training run and then just see what I had left.  The goal would be to finish the race the best way I could, but if there were any issues I would stop and not risk jeopardizing the Xenia race.  Cindy helped me adjust my training plan as I increased my long run mileage to a peak of 17 miles two weeks ago, and then I tapered this past week.  I also got another shot of confidence a week before Last Chance when I beat my goal of a 7:00 pace at the hilly Granville Winter Run 7.5-miler by finishing in 51:44 (6:50 pace) and shockingly won a race for the first time ever!

That set the stage for race weekend.  I went down on Saturday afternoon to pick up my packet and race bib.  I decided to walk the one-mile loop while I was there and get a feel for what the course would be.  One other huge aspect to my preparation for this event and for improving my training has been reading the book "Unleash the Champion" by Denny Dicke.  He teaches all kinds of techniques to make you mentally tougher and to help you push the negative thoughts out when you run as a way to have your best performance.  I'm not a huge fan of self-help type of books, but I connected with this one and followed a lot of them.  I wrote out 3:14:30 as a goal time on a piece of paper and the words "Determined", "Tenacious", and "Unstoppable" and hung them on the mirror in my bathroom to stare at every day.  I would repeat those words on training runs when things got tough.  I would visualize me finishing my race with the goal time that I wanted.  I bought into it and my performance began to improve.  The final aspect for me was to visit the actual course and imagine myself having the race that I wanted to have and I was able to do that less than 24 hours before I started the actual event.

On Sunday, February 24, I was up bright and early to knock out my core work that includes 100 situps and 100 pushups that I've done every day now for over a year.  Then, I was off to the race.  I met up with Cindy on the way as she was going to serve as my support for the day, hand me water and fuel when necessary, and try to help keep me on track and help me make a good decision about whether to continue on or not when the time came as I approached the 20-mile mark.  My pace to qualify for the Boston Marathon needed to be a 7:25 per mile or a 3:14:59 overall finish time.  My previous best marathon finish in two attempts was a 3:41:39 at the Earth Day Challenge last spring.  My goal for Sunday's race was to start out at a 7:20 pace and just keep knocking them off at that clip for as long as I could.

We lined up at the starting line at 8 a.m., the horn sounded, and we were off!  Since the clock started on the horn, I had lined up right in the front and was among the first 10 people to head out.  A couple of faster guys took an early lead with a guy in an orange Boston Marathon jacket sprinting to the front.  I figured if he had the jacket and he seemed to be near my age that he would be a good guy to keep in my sights as I ran the loops.  I tried to settle into an easy pace and tried not to let the excitement of the start get me going too fast.  We did the first .20 and then crossed the spot that would eventually be the finish line when we passed 26 more times.  When I finished the first mile, I realized that I had gotten off to a faster start than I planned to as I posted a 6:57.  I dialed it back for Mile 2 to a 7:03, but then hit a 6:58 for Mile 3.  Right as I hit the Mile 3 mark, I caught up with my friend, Melanie Kopp, who was doing the half and trying to PR.  I had told her prior to the race that I would see her at Mile 3 and Mile 12.  I met my goal for the first part of that.

I managed to back the pace down a bit for the next two miles with a 7:15 and a 7:13.  As I approached Cindy at Mile 6 after a 7:03 lap, I had finished my first water bottle and told her that I would take a Gatorade G1 pouch on the next lap to fuel.  I grabbed it after posting a 7:08 lap for Mile 7 and proceeded to drink it through the next two laps at 7:08 and 7:12.  I hit Mile 10 at a 7:06 pace and thought to myself that I was now halfway done with my 20-mile training run.  Mile 11 came and went in 7:12 and then it was time to see if I would catch up to Melanie on Mile 12.  Once again, I caught her right at the mile marker as I finished that lap in 7:11.  I ran alongside her momentarily and told her how well she was doing and that she had lots of time in the bank to PR the half.  I thanked her for pushing so hard to make me go hard in my race and told her I was proud of her and to finish strong and then I took off again.

As I hit Mile 13 in 7:18, I realized that I had run the first half in under 1:34, which would be a new half marathon PR for me by nearly a minute.  My goal coming into the race was to be consistent each mile and hit the halfway point at 1:37.  I didn't dwell on this potential time gain because I knew that the tradeoff could very well be a big crash waiting for me late in the race.  I focused on my positive mental training that I had been doing and tried to settle in for the second half of the journey.

I continued to try to keep the pace as close to 7:20 as I could.  Miles 14 through 20 went by like clockwork in 7:20, 7:16, 7:13, 7:12, 7:20, 7:15, and 7:18.  Somewhere during the middle teen miles, I passed the guy in the Boston jacket and I vowed to not let him pass me back.  By the time I crossed the finish line, I had actually lapped him as his quick start came back to haunt him.

As I approached Cindy after Mile 20, I commented to her that the training run was done and now it was time for the icing on the cake.  She had been good about making me drink part of another bottle of water around Mile 13 and then a second G1 pouch at Mile 16.  My stomach was starting to give me fits, but it would have definitely been worse if I hadn't done the fueling even though I didn't want to.  Big thanks to Cindy for being stern about this and keeping me from derailing that part of my plan like I had in my previous two marathons.

As I knocked out Miles 21 and 22, I knew that I was starting to fade slightly but I managed to keep the pace at 7:28 and 7:25.  I'm not a big Eminem fan, but his song "Lose Yourself" came on at this point and it was the perfect song as I knew that I was now just a little over four miles away from reaching a huge goal.  I knew that I needed to dig down deep and push through the stomach pain and tired legs that I had going on and finish out what I started.  Melanie had also joined Cindy in cheering me on and they were doing a great job of pushing me towards the finish even though I could tell by their faces that they were just as nervous as I was that it was going to be really close as they could also tell that I was starting to slow down.  I finished Mile 23 in 7:38 and I was starting to calculate in my head how much cushion I had for the final three-plus miles as I was really starting to hurt.  It was at this point that Cindy yelled at me that I needed to make it through the next mile and that she would jump in and try to run me in the final two.

Mile 24 seemed like it took forever.  The crowd of runners had really thinned out as most of the half marathoners were done and some of the full marathoners were starting to really show signs of the wear and tear that the distance can take on one's body as I saw numerous ones stretching on the side of the course.  I finally got to the point that I could see Cindy and Melanie again and I was thankful to know that I would have company for the final two laps.  Mile 24 took 8:01.

As nice as it was to get someone to run with me for Mile 25, it was also my worst mile of the whole race.  My stomach was really revolting at this point and I nearly come to a screeching halt around the first turn as I dry heaved.  Cindy was in drill sergeant mode because she knew I didn't have much margin for error (although what she didn't know but I did was that I had two more minutes than she thought because she was looking at the half marathon clock which started two minutes before the full marathon).  She told me that I just needed to keep pushing through and that if I had to throw up to just do it all over myself and keep moving.  And here I thought she was my friend.  LOL  I somehow managed to make it through that mile in 8:16.

Then, it was finally time for the last lap plus the final .20.  Cindy thought I had roughly 10 minutes to get it done while I really had more like 12 minutes.  She kept encouraging me (insert barking orders at me) to stay after it.  (In fairness, while at the time I was thinking it was harsh, she was doing the right thing.  She knew that if I came that close and missed my goal that I would be not only sore from the running but mentally devastated.)  I manged to pick up the pace to an 8:07 for that lap.  Then, I could see the finish and I kicked things into gear to make sure that I got there in time.  I covered the final .20 at a 7:36 pace and hit a 5:46 pace going to the finish - which was my fastest pace during the entire race.  Once I saw the clock and knew that I was going to meet my goal, I started to ease up just a bit so I wouldn't totally collapse when I crossed the finish line.  I HAD DONE IT!!!! 3:13:33!!!  A new PR by 28:06 AND a Boston qualifying time!  :)  I was even more surprised when the person at the finish line handed me a plaque and said that I had won the 40-49 age group.  I later found out that I finished 8th in the entire race.

As Cindy and Melanie each grabbed an arm and helped me stumble and stagger into the area for post-race food, I began to tell them about the other people who had helped me on the course.  There was a guy who stood near Cindy who gave me a high five for at least the first 14 laps and then later I saw him in the race as a relay participant.  There was the girl on the exact opposite side of the course who gave me a high five through each of the first 16 laps and then apologized that she had to leave.  Finally, there was the heavy-set 20-something man who was walking the half marathon.  I think I passed him 12 times and each time I told him how much he was inspiring me to keep pushing on.  I'm sure it was just as hard if not harder for him to do his race as it was for me to do mine.  It was nice for me to be able to reiterate that thanks again to him in the finish area as he came in just after I did.  All of these things are the kind of things that make me enjoy doing these kind of events.

After changing into dry clothes and drinking some water, it was time to head to Outback Steakhouse for something I had been waiting three years for - Aussie cheese fries!!!  I hadn't had a tater tot, french fry, or hash brown during that span as I tried to use that as motivation for me to help push towards this goal of a BQ.  The Bethel Road Outback was right by the race and since I have a huge history with Chris, the owner, and the great folks there it was a no-brainer to stop.  The cheese fries were SOOOOO GOOD!  And to top it off, Chris paid for my meal!  Wow!

On the way home, the magnitude of what I had accomplished began to finally hit me as I started to get phone calls, text messages, tweets, and Facebook posts from my family and friends as they began to hear about what had happened.  I have the best people in my life...I really do.  Several people said they wished they would have known about this so they could have been there to cheer me on and I know that my family wanted to all be there.  But, I kept it quiet and low key because I didn't want to put any pressure on myself as I was trying my best to just think of this as a training run and that proved to be the right choice.  I'm extremely thankful for all the love and support of so many great people!  I am truly blessed!

2012 Hood to Coast Relay

Cresting the second of three hills on Leg #6

Wow, I can't believe that it's already been six weeks since I took part in the 2012 Hood to Coast Relay on August 24-25 as a member of Random Acts of Running, one of the 1,068 teams of 12 people each in a race that started 6,500 feet up on Mt. Hood in Oregon and ran nearly 200 miles to the Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Oregon.  This race consisted of many ups and downs for me personally over two days, but it is definitely an experience I will never forget.

After a great time leading up to the race that included an amazing complimentary dinner at the Outback Steakhouse in Tualatin where the staff went all out to treat us as celebrities and my love affair with the chain just continued to grow, we packed up our vehicles and tried to get a good night's sleep for the adventure that awaited us.  Fortunately, we didn't have an early starting time, so we knew that we should be plenty rested heading into the two-day event.

As part of Van #1 for our team, we needed to finally load up and head to the starting line for our 2:45 p.m. start.  However, on the way, we stopped at the local Krispy Kreme store to pick up a dozen donuts and some chocolate milk that they had graciously agreed to donate to help fuel us on the trip.  If you know much about me, you know that I love my donuts and see them as a great reward for all the running that I do.  This proved to be a great treat and I'm thankful to Krispy Kreme for donating them to us and for all the love they gave us on Twitter during the race.  Interaction with brands is priceless and it's why I'm a big fan of several you see mentioned in this post.

Random Acts of Running posing in Krispy Kreme

A look at all the goodness we had to leave behind.  :)

Our elite runner, Peter Arbogast, fueling up with a glazed donut prior to his run. I later showed the group how to eat one in a single bit.  :)  Yep, it takes skill and years of practice.

With the donuts and chocolate milk secured, we continued the drive to Mt. Hood.  Pretty soon, we found ourselves on the actual course for the race - just going in the opposite direction.  As we passed the exchange zone for the end of Leg #6 (my leg), I began to get excited and started studying the course that I would be running in a few hours.  The rest of the group did, too.  We knew that we had some challenges ahead of us, but we were excited to get the adventure under way.  As we got closer and closer to the starting line, the views just kept getting better.

The view of Mt. Hood from the parking lot as we approached the starting line.

We spent a little time at the starting line getting ready for the race and just soaking in the energy of all the teams around us.  I even ran into a couple of Central Ohio friends there, Brandon Button and Molly Stout.  It's always great to see a familiar face, but especially 2,000 miles away from home.  Molly's team was actually starting the same time as our team and she was running the same leg as me, so I knew that we might see her a couple of times.

Peter, Brandon, and I

O - H - I - O at the start.  Me, Molly, Sarah (a Twitter friend on Molly's team), and Peter.

Just before it was time for our first runner to take off, our van of six runners took a moment to all go to the starting line together and capture a picture to commemorate the start of what would be a great journey together.

I'm not sure there's a more picturesque starting line anywhere

When 2:45 rolled around, we all cheered as Sarah Suever, our first runner, took off straight down the hill on Leg #1.  She cruised over those 5.64 miles at an 8:18 pace and the race was on!  Before I knew it, Ryan Halley, our captain, had knocked out Leg #2 at a 6:29 clip, Brett Milliken hammered out Leg #3 at a 6:20 pace, and Amanda Smithberger rocked Leg #4 at a 7:34 pace.  As we dropped Peter off to do Leg #5, the butterflies were really stirring big time in my stomach as I realized it was almost time for me to get to work.  I had been waiting nine months for this opportunity and it had finally arrived.

It had been 11 days since my previous run as I had battled shins and just rested the legs in hopes that I could somehow pull out the three legs I was assigned for the race. However, after a brief little jog on the top of Mt. Hood earlier in the day as we waited to start the race, I knew that I was in for a lot of soreness if my legs even allowed me to attempt these runs.

I arrived at the exchange point for Leg #6 and eagerly awaited the arrival of Peter, who had the unenviable assignment as the #5 runner - the toughest assignment in the race.  I bumped into Molly briefly at the exchange and we encouraged each other.  Then, I saw Peter cruising up the final hill towards me and I began to get geared up to go. He handed me the relay bracelet and I was off!

I cruised through the first mile in 6:38 with a max speed of 4:49 during the initial acceleration. I passed one person during this stretch and then set off after two others who were in the distance on an uphill. I eventually caught both of them before the third mile ended as I covered those miles in 6:53 and 7:20 to stand at 20:51 after the first three miles for a sub 7:00 pace.

Approaching the exchange zone

This was where my legs began to really fall apart as it was just a constant struggle to manage the pain of what I thought at the time was really bad shin splints with the lack of fitness that I had to run that pace with all my time off as I started to really suck wind.  However, I started thinking about all of my Daily Mile friends along with those following on Facebook and Twitter who were cheering me on. I also thought about my goal to not walk at any point in my next marathon and I just kept pushing myself to finish the leg and then worry about what was next.  In the back of my mind, I also was trying to stay as close to the time of my friend, Carrie Jarvis, who had run the same leg a few hours earlier, and I knew that if I slowed down too much that Molly, who is super fast, would catch and pass me.  So, I just kept going.

Peter coming back to help run me to the finish...in flip flops nonetheless

The leg ended up being more hilly than I anticipated, but I knocked out the next three miles in 7:39, 7:28, and 7:29 before closing the final .70 at a 7:31 pace with a 5:41 burst at the end. I was utterly spent by the time I handed off to Brad Petersen to go on to Leg #7, but I had finished my first assignment. It wasn't the 7:09 pace I had predicted months ago when healthy, but I just missed by seconds (7:16 pace) and I was pretty pleased. I had to be helped to the vehicle as my legs were total mush and shaking, but I had accomplished my first goal of completing at least one leg.

The face of total exhaustion and pain right after I finished

Once I got back in the van, I began to realize that the pain I was feeling was not something that was going to subside any time soon.  Not that day and probably not in even the week to come.  I knew it was bad and that was confirmed in the days ahead when I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in each leg to the point that the muscle was pulling away from the bone.

Fortunately, I had taken a boot with me since I had been having issues with my right leg and that had seemed to help take some of the pressure off.  By the time we stopped at Amanda's house for an amazing spaghetti supper that her husband, Luke, had so graciously prepared for us, I could barely stagger out of the vehicle.  Going up stairs to shower or use the restroom required crawling and I ended up just collapsing on the floor in a heap and staying there for what seemed like two hours, but was probably more like 45 minutes.  I knew that I was in for a very long night being cramped up in the vehicle and I was also feeling really bad about the fact that now my team was facing the challenge of figuring out what to do about my remaining two legs that needed run.

We met back up with Van #2 after they had pounded out Legs #7-12 in better than expected time and it was time for our group to do its thing again.  We switched the order around enough so that Ryan ended up with an 8.82-mile second run, while Peter did two runs in the second round as he absorbed my second run on top of his own to do 11.31 miles in a short span of time.  I do admit that I wallowed in self-pity (and a lot of pain) for awhile and really questioned why I was there.  I just shut down and went into a shell and didn't say much.  I'm a team guy and I really felt like I had let the team down.

However, the more I watched my team rally to the occasion, the more I began to feel better.  The entire group just continued to pick up the slack and didn't complain and I stood by and watched with amazement and appreciation for great teammates as there was nothing else I could do. Or so I thought.  I started to look for little ways to help.  I hobbled to the exchange points with the clipboard to jot down times.  I gave up my jacket to the waiting runner so they could stay warm until they needed to start their leg.  I tried to be an encouragement just as much as I possibly could.  And I kept just soaking in all the amazing sights around me.  So many people working so hard to do things that individually would be impossible but together were doable.  I learned a lot of life lessons over the next few hours.

There were plenty of challenges the rest of the way.  Due to congestion on the roads, what should have been a four-hour opportunity to sleep in an open field never materialized to much more than about 20 minutes.  The final 12 legs of the race it was a constant adventure to try to get the next runner to the exchange point before the previous runner arrived.  It often meant that the a runner would have to run an additional mile or so to be there in time.  It must have been a good warm-up because our van just kept busting out amazing mile after amazing mile.  Brett ran my leg and his leg over the final round to finish with 12.55 miles in the round and he was stoked to do it.  In fact, I'm not sure on a healthy day I could have done what he did.  Once again, just super impressed with my team.

Kade coming to the finish and you can see me in neon green under the arch

When our final six legs were done, we headed to Seaside and the finish line.  We made one stop for a well-deserved meal where I chowed on a plate of french toast.  Then, it was on to the beach to wait for the arrival of our other van.  When we finally saw Kade Chambless, our final runner, approaching with her trademark smile on her face, we all began screaming and cheering her own until she crossed the checkpoint.  Then, we lined up to cross the official finish line all together and get our official team photos taken and be presented with our medals.  Somehow, I hobbled boot and all through the sand across the line and grabbed my medal.  Wow, our team was amazing.  We were predicted to finish in just over 27 hours but had come in at 25:55:38 which was good enough for 97th place out of 1,068 teams.  Even better, we were 14th out of 360 teams in the mixed (6 guys and 6 girls) division.  Great job, Sarah, Ryan, Brett, Amanda, Peter, Brad, Becky Peach, Spencer Dries, Taylor Bailey, Claire Bailey, and Kade!

Here's five of the six members of Van #1 at the finish...the stranger who took the pic cut Ryan out of the shot. :(

Some other thank yous that I need to make sure to mention include my running friends who called me or texted me while I was on the trip and encouraged me even when I was down and hurting.  You guys are amazing!!  Thanks also to the MVNU athletic department for allowing me to take a rare couple of vacation days during the fall season to soak up this amazing experience that I haven't come close to describing in this post.  Seriously, I could write numerous posts about numerous sights, but let's suffice it to say that every runner should have this event on their bucket list.  You won't regret going.

I also need to thank several other brands in addition to Outback Steakhouse and Krispy Kreme who made this trip possible.  We received two of the latest sets of Knuckle Lights that were just available weeks before the race and they are amazing to use in the dark.  I highly recommend these over headlamps because you control the direction they shine AND they are much brighter.  In fact, I used them this morning at 5:45 a.m. on a foggy bike ride.

We also received a donation of the SC Johnson to get free XXL size Ziploc bags.  Let's just say that when you are traveling for more than a day in a vehicle filled with sweaty runners that being able to zip up your sweaty clothes and running shoes in an airtight bag really helps keep the vehicle smelling a lot fresher.  So, a big thank you for these!

We also enjoyed some chewy granola bars from the great folks at Quaker who sent us a very generous supply for the trip.  I can attest to the fact that I personally inhaled quite a few and it was great to have that as nourishment to keep us going towards are better-than-predicted performance.

One more thank you goes to Chipotle for donating a free burrito card to each of the 12 runners so that we could refuel after the race.  Thanks to Joe for making this happen and to the brand for always interacting with customers.

Hood to Coast shirt, bib, and medal

As you can tell, we had a blast, we ate well, and the team performed amazingly.  To me, that makes this trip a hands-down success.  I'm still in the process of recovering from the stress fractures that were already there before I went, but my hope is one day to return and successfully complete all three of my assigned legs.  I do know that I am a better person and runner from having gone on this trip!

Headed to the Hood

Today is a day that I’ve been looking forward to since last November. That’s when I found out that I was going to have the opportunity to participate in the self-proclaimed “Mother of all Relay Races”, the almost 200-mile Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon.

Up to this point in my running career, my races have consisted of 5Ks, half marathons, and two full marathons with a few other mid-range distances mixed in. I haven’t ventured into any of the obstacle type events like the Warrior Dash or Color Run and have focused strictly on races that consist of just me and the open road.

Well, that will all change today when I hop in Van 1 of Team “Random Acts of Running” and we drive up Mt. Hood to Timberline and its 6,500-foot elevation. That will start an adventure that will see our team of 12 people each do three legs of roughly six miles each before we finish about 27 hours later on the Pacific Ocean in Seaside, Oregon. Along the way, we’ll see lots of interesting sites and have lots of interesting adventures and I can’t wait!!!

All the planning and preparation has been done at this point. Now, it’s up to us to just go out and doing our running. With all of the elevation drops and gains, it won’t always be easy. But, we are going to give it our best shot and see what happens.

Our team of 12 consists of six guys and six girls, so we’ll be competing in the mixed open division, where they have predicted that we’ll finish 28th out of 361 teams in just over 27 hours. Really, time is irrelevant in an event like this. It’s all about the experience. There will be elite teams like the team traveling all the way from Japan with their national media and expected to win the race in 17 hours. And there will be teams that will take twice that long but have just as much fun. We’ll see plenty of costumes and decked out vans and I hope to get lots of pictures along the way.

Here’s a brief introduction of our team. Most of them I met for the first time last night when the Outback Steakhouse in Tualatin so graciously hosted us for a pre-race team meal. A big thank you to Jon Lakefish, the director of franchise marketing, and Dave Seeley, the managing partner of the Tualatin store, for giving us a one-of-a-kind dinner that none of us will soon forget. And, a big thanks to our server, Miranda, who handled all 15 of us (our three volunteers were included) with ease. It really was a perfect evening!

Van 1 will get the race started at 2:45 p.m. PST on Mt. Hood with Runner #1 Sarah Suever. Sarah is a 14-year-old high school student from Ohio who runs cross country and plays soccer. Her first leg is a beast as she’ll descend something like 2,000 feet in five miles. While to some that might seem fun to go that fast, it’s labeled as one of the very hardest legs on the course. She will then legs 13 and 25 before enjoying the final 11 legs in the van.

Runner #2 in Van 1 is my good friend, Ryan Halley. Ryan went to college at MVNU and later taught there as well. He currently teaches in the business department at George Fox in the Portland area and he was my invitation to this team. He’s also the captain of the team and has organized all the details necessary to make this adventure possible. I appreciate he and his wife, Jess, and their two kids for letting me stay at their house while I’ve been out here. Ryan gets to do leg 2, which drops 1,500 feet in just over five miles and then legs 14 and 26. He’ll probably also do a lot of the driving for Van 1 while trying not to drive off the road laughing at the antics that are sure to ensue. This will be Ryan’s second straight year doing Hood to Coast.

Runner #3 in Van 1 is Brett Milliken. I met Brett for the first time last night and he’s a young guy in his 20’s from the Portland area who looks to be a strong runner as well. He gets the award for the best mustache out of group of 12 and he’s wearing it well! I look forward to getting to know him better over the next two days and I’m sure that he’s going to do a great job with legs 3, 15, and 27.

Runner #4 in Van 1 is Amanda Smithberger. Amanda actually went to MVNU for a short time and was a member of our women’s soccer team. She is married to Ryan’s cousin and they live in the Portland area. Amanda has done Hood to Coast two previous times, so her expertise will be invaluable to us as she knows what to expect. She’ll be doing legs 4, 16, and 28.

Runner #5 in Van 1 is Peter Arbogast. Peter is a friend of mine that I’ve gotten to know that past two years through various running events in Central Ohio. He lives in Marysville and is definitely the most decorated runner on our team. A few of his highlights just this year are running the Boston Marathon and just last month completing the Burning River 100 – an ultramarathon half the distance of Hood to Coast that he did on his own. The man is a rock star and there is a reason that he is doing what is considered the toughest three legs on the Hood to Coast course as he runs legs 5, 17, and 29.

I’ll be masquerading as Runner #6 to finish out Van #1. My combined mileage for the three legs will be just shy of 18 miles and I’m hoping that I can pull this off despite not running in almost two weeks as I’ve been resting up a bad case of shin splints. I get to do legs 6, 18, and 30 and will hand off to first runner in Van 2 each time, which means that my exchange zones will be filled with both vans from each team running the same pace. That should add to the hoopla and hopefully carry me through.

Van 2 Runner #1 will be Brad Petersen. Brad, who is running his second Hood to Coast and is a Portland area resident, is the captain of the second van and has been tremendous in helping Ryan with all the details that go along with this event. I guarantee that Van 2 will have fun with Brad and his fun-loving personality. When we left him after the Outback dinner last night, he was still trying to convince the rest of his van to get mohawks with him. I’ll look forward to seeing today if anyone did. Brad’s also a great runner and it’s going to be an honor to be sandwiched in between the two fastest guys on our team. He’ll run legs 7, 19, and 31, which is the second-toughest assignment of the race.

Van 2 Runner #2 will be Becky Peach. Becky is from Virginia and is the mother-in-law of the original organizer of this team, Megan Peach, who ended up dropping out when she had a baby. Becky is looking forward to this race even though she has the single-toughest leg for her second one when she has to climb nearly 800 feet in five miles on a gravel road. She’ll do great as she knocks out legs 8, 20, and 32.

Van 2 Runner #3 is Spencer Dries. Spencer is one of the four Colorado runners who round out our team. He’ll team up with Brad to keep the four ladies in Van 2 entertained while posting good times knocking out legs 9, 21, and 33. He has some relay experience with the Wild West Relay under his belt and he’s also been training for longer endurance races.

Van 2 Runner #4 is Taylor Bailey. Like Spencer, she is an avid cyclist and triathlete. She will be running legs 10, 22, and 34 and I know she’s going to do a great job. She is also one of our two ICU nurses along on the trip and we hope to not need their services.

Van 2 Runner #5 is Claire Bailey. Another of the Colorado runners, she will be running legs 11, 23, and 35. She designed the cool team bandanas that we got last night at our team dinner.

Van 2 Runner #6 is Kade Chambless. She will be running legs 12, 24, and 36 and gets the honor of leading our team across the finish line. She is the second of our nurses in Van 2.

Here's our team picture from after the Outback dinner last night:

If you want someone’s entertaining take on the two van assignments and the legs of Hood to Coast from previous experience, check out these links. Van 1 description Van 2 description

Well, we are coming down to the wire with last-minute packing, some light eating, and feeling the butterflies in our stomachs as we’ll be heading out the door soon to head up Mt. Hood. However, we do have to make a stop at Krispy Kreme on the way ‘cause everyone knows how important it is for me to have donuts on race day. I’m not sure what access I’ll have to post along the way, but I’ll try my best at least on Twitter and Facebook. Good luck to my other friends running in it as well and I hope to see you at some point along the way.

And The Winner Is.... (Part II)

Below is the acceptance speech that I received from Jim Clark as the winner of this year's Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse. Enjoy! :)

I had a dream!
By Jim Clark (NCAA GURU)
April 4, 2012

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration of NCAA basketball prognostication in the history of our nation and the Six Degrees of MVNUSID Bracket Contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse.

Several weeks ago, a great American named Dave Parsons, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, sent out an email with an invitation to join the Six Degrees of MVNUSID Bracket Contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to many who had been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to avoid the flames of withering injustice and to correctly pick the 2012 NCAA Tournament Champion. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long nights of our captivity.

But many years later, there are many who still have not won the big prize. Many years later, the life of many in our group is still sadly crippled by the manacles of improper selections and the chains of poor decision-making. Many years later, there are Six Degrees of MVNUSID Bracket Contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse members living on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity which includes ownership of the Outback Steakhouse Gift Card. Many years later, Six Degrees of MVNUSID Bracket Contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse members are still languishing in the corners of American society and finding themselves an exile in their own land of misfortune. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to cash a check (or claim an Outback Steakhouse Gift Card). When the architects of our Six Degrees of MVNUSID Bracket Contest wrote the magnificent words - “please join my group”, they were signing a promissory note to which every one of us was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men and a few women, yes, men as well as women, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of an Outback Steakhouse Gift Card.

But there is something that I must say to you my friends who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining your rightful place you must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for an Outback Steakhouse Gift Card by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have never, ever come close to winning the Six Degrees of MVNUSID Bracket Contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for greatness left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of ridicule.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I had a dream. It was a dream deeply rooted in the quest for greatness as well as humility.

I had a dream that one day I would rise up again and live out the true meaning of the creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men (and women) are not created equal when it comes to predicting basketball games."

I had a dream that my three little granddaughters will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by whether their Grandpa won the Six Degrees of MVNUSID Bracket Contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to my office with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair an Outback Steakhouse Gift Card. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of the Six Degrees of MVNUSID into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood and sisterhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that one day maybe each and every one of us would be privileged to redeem an Outback Steakhouse Gift Card.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Let freedom ring from the rolling hills of the village of Cedarville!

Let freedom ring from Mount Vernon Nazarene to Cedarville University!

Let freedom ring from every Outback Steakhouse in the USA!

Let freedom ring from everyone eating a delicious Bloomin’ Onion.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of us as God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "I have won an Outback Steakhouse Gif Card, I have won an Outback Steakhouse Gift Card! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I am free at last!"

And The Winner Is...

I'm pleased to announce that the winner of this year's Six Degrees of MVNUSID bracket contest sponsored by Outback Steakhouse is Jim Clark.

Jim, who is the assistant sports information director at Cedarville University, made his move after the Elite Eight round. George Hartz maintained his lead heading into the Final Four as he was one of 12 of the 69 entrants in my contest to pick three of the final four teams in the field correctly. He held a 950-920 lead over both Troy Current and Chris Bean at that point with Troy joining him in picking Ohio State to win it all and Chris having had his predicted champion, Duke, eliminated back in the first round. For his performance, George earned the coveted Bloomin' Onion card for that round.

In the Final Four, Jim joined eight other participants in correctly picking Kentucky and Kansas to advance to the national championship game as he claimed the Bloomin' Onion card for the round. At that point, it came down to who would win the championship game to see who would take home the grand prize.

In the title contest, Kentucky prevailed to give Jim the title, bragging rights, and the $45 voucher that Outback Steakhouse so generously donated. (Yes, originally, it was supposed to be $25, but they are so cool that they upped the ante.) I'm also throwing in a Bloomin' Onion card for runner-up, Jay Stancil, who only entered because Outback was involved, and I drew one more name from among the people who correctly picked Kentucky as the champion and that Bloomin' Onion card goes to Amanda Rykoff.

And for those wondering how bad my wife, Carla, beat me this year...she finished 12th out of 69 people with 1290 points, while I was a distant 22nd with 1200 points.

A big thank you to Outback for sponsoring the prizes for this year's contest. It would be great if you each took the time to follow them on Twitter and dropped them a note. Also, thanks to everyone who played along as this was the biggest field of participants yet. Here's hoping that even more people will join in on the March Madness next year.