Tonya Parker ( Onward and Upward ) is first up. Tonya is the lovely ( and extremely tall ) wife of the previously mentioned Kevin Parker. As with Kevin I met Tonya last year at the Flying Pig marathon. Tonya wasnt running the race, she was there in support of KP. I didnt get to talk to Tonya much at the meetup. She was fairly new to our group at that point so I dont know how many of the gang at the meetup interacted with her. I actualy got to talk to Tonya quite a bit more at the Madison race over Memorial Day weekend. Its kind hard not to talk to someone when you are sharing a room with them. Madison was Tonyas first HM and I was glad I was there to see it. She did a great job! The pic I am putting up I stole off her blog =) Its one of the awesome shots that Chris O'Brien ( HighHeat ) from our group took. It is Tonya about a tenth of amile form the finish line at Madison
Next up is Mitch Hammes ( Our Japanese Experience ) . Mitch is the loving husband of my friend Merry. While I have only been around Mitch a couple of times, he was very genuine and all around a nice guy. Both he and Merry and thier two kids are currently in Japan> Merry has been teaching over there for a year. They are just two weeks away from coming home. I really wish I couldve made it over their for a visit but the finances just wouldnt allow it. They are already talking about possibly take another teaching job in Australia in a couple of years. We might just have to make a trip down under happen.
Third on this list is Mary McDonald ( Running Away/ Traveling Around My Head ) McT or the Mayor as she is known on the board, she is quite the character. She had been lurking while we were still at CR and decided to join us right before we moved to Kick. She fit right in the with the hijinx, comreaderie and the support that we have all grown to love. Somehow amongst all the hijinx it was determined that Mary needed a imaginary poolboy. Well I won out over several other canidates. Still not sure what the job entails but I enjoy the title =) I got to meet Mary and her husband Bob in Madison. As much as we interacted on the board and PMed each other, I was a bit shy and nervous to approach her. All that went away when I got a big hug from her. I enjoyed talking to them both at dinner Saturday night and was glad I got to see them both finish their first HMs. THe pic of Mary and I was taking at the after party in Madison
Melissa Heaton ( To China and Back and Beyond ) is the last in this installment. Yet another member of our group, she's been MIA for quite some time. With good reason though. Last year Melissa traveled to China to complete the adoption process of adopting her daughter Mia. As part of that process, she missed the race the Flying Pig and my best opportunity to meet her. Although in pics she was sending some of us in her travels to China she was wearing the tech shirt from the Flying Pig so she had to at least made it to the expo. Oh well, hopefully there will be a time were I will get to meet Melis and Mia in person down the road.
There is one more blooger on my list but that installment will come tomorrow
Thanks for reading !
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