Well, the big 60th birthday weekend is over. Bruce and Marg arrived on Thursday at noon and left at noon today, Sunday. We had a blast. Bruce fulfilled his one desire and caught a fish. Bruce will have to supply the picture! Barry beat his brother in the 10km walk so he is really happy!!! Margaret and I had a great time comparing stories, hanging out while the boys went speed fishing, trying to get good pictures of dragonflies and embroidering.
We went to Bullocks for a fish feed on Friday night, it is one of the best places to get fresh fish anywhere and lo and behold they had pickerel on the menu, it was scrumptious. We had a wiener roast on Friday out at Prelude Lake and we toured the museum yesterday when it was rainy.
The Overlander Yellowknife Marathon just happened to be on this weekend so Barry got the brain wave that we should all go in it. Fortunately they had a 10 km walk category so we all entered. The guys were a hit, the Lange twins testing out their new hips. The entry fee included a carbohydrate loading opportunity at Boston Pizza last night and after we had finished that we headed back to our apartment to complete the process by devouring the birthday cake supplied by Bruce and Barry's Mom courtesy of the Co-op. The twin Harley Davidson motorbikes on the cake were a big hit!

The one upmanship was rampant over the weekend with speculation about the fact that the women would for once in their lives be able to out pace the men. Bruce and Marg had a plane to catch about 4 hours after the race started so we wondered if we would have to go and scoop Bruce off the course and race out to the airport. Barry fooled us all and set off on a blistering pace at the beginning of the race. There was no way I was going to let him get away but every fourth step I had to skip or hop in order to keep up to him. If I wanted to get a stone out of my sandal I would run ahead in order not to be left in the dust. Marg dutifully stayed behind with Bruce to encourage him to keep up a steady pace. I thought we would leave them in the dust with the pace that Barry had set but they stayed pretty close behind. We hit the 5 km mark at 44 minutes, leaving us thinking perhaps a 90 min 10k was possible. Barry fell off the pace a little and we finished in about 1 hour and 33 minutes. Barry was so competitive and he was making such rude remarks about my ability to keep up that I was tempted to sprint the last 100 meters so that I could beat him for once, but I guess maturity has dulled my instincts because we crossed the line holding hands.
I am so glad Bruce and Marg were able to come up, thanks to the cheap West Jet flights that are available. I don't remember them celebrating a birthday together since we have been married, so 60 was a good year to do it. Now that they are so mellow and can collect their old age pensions if they wish, life is good!!!
A REAL NORTHERN SIGN