Folklife Fest "Wales" on YouTube

Please check out my "Folklife Fest" video on YouTube:

Hopefully, this video will depict the natural beauty of Cardiff Bay with its glorious Castle to the pit mines -- a reason why Wales is an industrial powerhouse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q21nAd2XcS8

Eastern Market

Check out my first Run in DC video "Eastern Market" posted on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZdVk-0gJoU

Check out my first Run in DC video "Eastern Market" posted on Yahoo video:

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5389693/14199101

Capitol Hill is a place I call home

The streets and the alleys are where I roam

I like to run around here, I make it a habit

And when I wanna snack, I run to the market

Eastern Market, I'm delighted to see

It's open now, it's open for you and me

Two years ago, it was badly burned

Closed to the public, we were deeply concerned

Now with the renovation, the walls and the ceiling

The couples with their children, we all be chilling

The clowns and the tourists, the locals from the hub

Checking out the merchants and tasting all the grub

The streets and the sidewalks are all made of bricks

The dolls and the dragons, they're all made of sticks

Bright and beautiful, I'm glad to see

Grand opening right now, we're saving history

Folklife Festival -- Wales After Lunch

Today, I made my trek to the Folklife Festival after my farewell luncheon at Fogo de Chao on Pennsylvania Avenue.

I was very impressed with all the rich slabs of meat especially the picanha, succulent steak dipped in garlic paste and roasted over hickory wood.

No one can skewer many different types of meat and make it so succulent like Fogo can. And the carving -- just perfection.

Needless to say, after several servings of prime rib, sirloin and the juiciest steaks, I was in no shape to run.

But I still made my daily trek to the mall and had great fun.

Welsh storytelling and poetry

I love to listen to Welsh poetry

Majestic prose and medieval history

The Pride of Wales and how they set their country free

The tale of war, the language of love and a beautiful story

                                                      Women making wire rope

Karl Chattington making a coracle, a small, lightweight boat with an ancient lineage dating back thousands of years.

My friend Karl is making a nice coracle

If you launch it in the river, it will make a true oracle

I wonder how it floats with a load of slime barnacle

But then again the whole history of the boat is just a time miracle

"Windsong", a Bristol Channel 16 footer, was built in Cardiff on 1937.

I told Sage how impressed I was with the extent of effort and presentation that Smithsonian puts into researching, planning and showcasing the unique culture, arts, and music of the featured country.

Every year, I learn something new and meet new friends who remain friends on my Facebook account.

Caitlin Jenkins, ceramic artist, making pottery, that will one day grace a beautiful table setting

I like to see Caitlin make traditional Welsh pottery

It's plain and simple, not too gaudy

Ceramic earthenware can serve us tea or coffee

So we can sit in the shade and   admire all of life's glory

I was interviewed by Ms. Sage Sawyer of the Smithsonian




















Keith Rees, a textile weaver, spinning dark Welsh wool to make thread

Folklife Festival -- Wales after Run

The National Mall is a place I run

The Lawn and the trees, the gravel and the sun

Then one day when I was running like a missile

I came to a halt, I ran into the Festival

Running from the Pentagon and stopping at the Mall

Was happy to see my Welsh friends, all having a ball

Despite all the sun and heat

I got to meet the Welsh boatmaker sanding a boom and cleat

Trefor Owen, world-famous clog maker, sawing dense, Welsh sycamore

My Trefor is the last, fulltime professional clog maker in Wales

He makes it by hand with leather, wood and nails

He first takes sycamore and carves it till its right

That's why Welsh clog dancers can prance all night

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch -- The 2nd Longest town name in the world with 58 letters.

This is the 2nd longest name in the world

With 58 letters, I can barely keep it unfurled

If I try to speak it I get my tongue all in a twirl

I’m glad it’s a village I would hate to name a baby boy or girl

Iona McLaggan, a former English teacher, has been a blacksmith for the last 20 years.   

Here she is making wrought iron for ornamental fencing.

Steve and friend showing off the Welsh ale and Stella Artois at the local pub.  It was here where I ate a Glamorgan vegetarian sausage made of molds, bread, cheese, onion, mustard and egg to form the links.

John Glennydd plays the pibgorn, a reed instrument from Wales.

In the last 20 years, there has been a revival in piping.  The pibgorn is a mouthblown hornpipe, having a parallel bore, six finger holes and a thumb hole.

Las Americas: Un Mundo Musical (The Americas: A Musical World)

Even got a chance to see the Currulao: Las Cantadoras del Pacifico, a Colombian band.  Currulao is an African-derived music from the Pacific coast of southern Colombia.

By the time this was done, I had my full and ready to return back to work.  I would back, though for the evening concert, and yes, another evening run.

Eastern Market

More ITU Triathlon Pictures

Bikers pushing their way along majestic Penn Ave under the looming view of the iconic US Capitol

The Mayor Adrian Fenty along with one happy lady runs by DC Capital Striders' water table on 17th and Constitution, 1 mile from the Finish

Photos courtesy of Mark Seip.

A Great Day for Great Britain

Today, the world's best triathletes will gather in my hometown to race in the International Triathlon Union (ITU) championship. The ITU series features eight races around the globe and more than 100 elite triathletes will compete in the only race to be held in North America. Spots in the 2012 Olympics are at stake for the ITU athletes, so the competition would be fierce -- I would be sure not to miss all this excitement and action with world-class athletes wearing their nation's flags racing up and down majestic Pennsylvania Avenue.

This morning, I rolled out of bed at 4:30 AM to head out to what I thought would be a beautiful, summer rain-free and action-packed day -- I thought wrong about the weather, but the day was indeed full of energy and excitement.


One of DC's most amazing running groups, DC Capital Striders, would be sponsoring an aid station (on Mile 5 on the course, between 7th and 9th Constitution), and I was indeed honored to participate and perhaps pick up some pointers for my Ironman 70.3 in Cancun later this year.


Nkosi offering Adrian Fenty a cup of water. He forgot to ask the Mayor how the Potomac tasted (especially after all that rain).

Stephanie handing out Powerade to a top-notch athlete. Although water was popular at first (I managed to meet my quota of 10 cups), powerade came back strong at the end.

I even got to see a couple of my friends on the course, including the ubiquitous Bill Brigman, USAF, former colleague and Nation's Triathlon veteran. Glad Bill liked my water -- too bad it wasn't bourbon, Bill.

After helping out with both the sprint and Olympic distance races, the Capital Striders gang disbanded and headed out to Penn Avenue to watch the pros strut their stuff.

Time trial bikers racing in front of the elegant and nautical Navy Memorial. Guess what the flags in the background spell?

Answer: NAVY - ME - MO - RIAL

The top three finishers in the men's competition: Gold: Alistair Browlee of Great Britain (1:48:58), Silver: Javier Gomez of Spain and 2008 Olympic champion (1:49:11) Bronze: Maik Petzold of Germany (1:49:24).

After the elite men championship, I decided to visit the Newseum to get a bird's eye view of the race from it's much-vaunted and full-length balcony (made famous from during the Inaugural parade)

This turned out to be a great idea. Not only was I able to get sweeping, unhindered views, I met another Brit, Betty Vo, who recently received her Masters in Journalism at George Washington University. As luck would have it, Betty, was on her way to Dulles to fly back to UK, and the Newseum was her final stop. I'm glad I got a chance meet her and chat with her before her return home.

Betty and I in front of the Berlin Wall. (No surprise why Betty didn't want to get close to me -- I had just run along Penn Avenue). I found out later that ACT UP or the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals who are committed to end the AIDS crisis.

Betty, who aspires to be a radio broadcaster in the UK, shared with me her views about journalism. She doesn't believe that journalists should always go out on an assignment to find the story. Instead, sometimes, it's better to let the story find you.

Needless to say, I was quite happy to hear her views -- kind of like what Run in DC is all about: Running around this exciting town not on a particular agenda but to observe and blog the human-interest stories that appear right in front of my eyes (even if I have to run to it).

At L'Enfant, I bid Farewell and Following Seas to Betty -- I wish her well and best of luck in her career. Maybe one day, I'll hear her on "All Things Considered."

After all this, you would think the excitement would finally be over -- you thought wrong -- I had watched a lot of runners, but I had yet to go out for my long run.

A run along the National Mall brought me in touch with Ms. Ang Herad, Stuart, Carwin, and Gwenno from the beautiful and historic country of Wales.

Ang Herad is ensuring that the Folklife Festival fully captures the rhythm of everyday life in Wales so that visitors will be able to get a real sense of the people and landscape of this breathtakingly beautiful and culturally-rich country.

The Wales Cymru team is building a very nice, authentic Welsh pub equipped with delicious and nutritious Welsh beer. This is exactly what we had two years ago when Northern Ireland was featured at the Folklife. Read my post from July 2007

For good luck and good health, Ms. Jones presented me with a piece of world-famous Welsh slate mined from the mountains of Northern Wales. I had to run around the mall with this in hand, but mysteriously I picked up speed -- I'm making a bracelet out of this stone.

 This stone wall was made by my friend Stuart

 A great chap from Wales, he was quite a Seaward

Mined from the mountains, extracted from the deep quarries

If you pack it tight, it will last a million years

So, how was my day after all. Let's see Alistair Browlee of GBR won the Gold; I met Betty Vo from London and now I have made two, true Welsh friends at the Folklife and even have a momento to prove it -- It's a Great Day for Great Britain.

(Note, despite my naivete, I know that Wales is not part of GBR but actually part of the UK -- but they all have great pubs, great slate and this makes a great story -- so there.)

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Polish Dancing and Laying of the Wreaths

This morning yes, it rained

Oh no, running then I abstained

But then by Two, the sky cleared, bright and sunny

Laced my Shoe, I started out in a hurry

To make my 5-mile loop before the pouring

Although the clouds still looked dark and threatening

I didn't hark, I became a bit daring

Yes, this time I wouldn't be at all foolish

I brought my Casio Exilm and filmed the Polish

No way, I wouldn't miss out on my lifetime chance

And by the Reflecting Pool, and away I danced

The elegant Michas dancers (from Virginia Beach) and Janosik dancers (from Philadelphia)

The music was so pompous, even the public started participating in the Polka.

Even I couldn't resist. Not too shabby for a retro dancer with a broken wrist. Here, I'm waltzing with Stasha from Poland. I hope she didn't mind my body odor after running 10 miles. Didn't have the nerve to tell her.

At sunset, two dozen young ladies dressed in bridal white gowns made a procession wearing wreaths woven from herbs and flowers. Tradition has it that the girls would offer the wreaths to their boyfriends on that special night in exchange for their love and promise of marriage.

Two young girls simulate laying the wreaths in the Reflecting Pool. Depending on which side of the pool the wreaths floated signified how soon one would get married

A wreath laid at the edge of the Reflecting Pool, ready for the Canadian Geese to enjoy

The Wailing Wall

I have never been to Vietnam, though I feel like I've been there a million times.

Though I don't know a single soul who lost his life there, I feel as if I know them all -- I've placed my hands on the black, granite wall many a dozen times, and I've felt their names etched sharply in granite -- it is both searing and touching.  Everytime I run by the Wall, I am deeply moved and shaken like one of my own was over there and now honored in glory on that Wall 

The War was messy with no clear lines and broken dreams shattered in a million pieces.  And then those who survived returned home but were not given a Hero's welcome. 

They were treated poorly by by fellow Americans as if it was there own fault for going over there -- what a shame -- never again.

Today, I got to meet hundreds of refugees, this time from their native country, who were also treated poorly and targeted as an object of ridicule for an unpopular war that had destroyed so many lives.

These refugees were abandoned, shunned and disgraced even in their own country.  To make matters worse, they did not have a network of supporters -- they did not know their fathers and their mothers had abandoned them -- a double betrayal of the worse kind.

Despite not knowing them, their faces, their character, even their names, the sons and daughters of U.S. Servicemen (known as Amerasians) assembled at the Wall to pray for their fathers, many of their names were sadly carved on that black wall, oblivious to the fact that they bore kindred in that foreign land that cost them their lives.

Please read this poignant story posted on Fox DC 

It will deeply move you.

Ameriasian Fellowship Association

I have been to the Wall hundreds of times -- more times that I can ever count or remember.  But this images resembling the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem will always stay with me.

Now it's time to run on....

"How Do You Know" Running with Reese Witherspoon

This was the closest I got to Reese and wanted to present her my Navy coin before her bodyguard told me to keep distance. Was it my sweat or my aroma?

The production crew taking up prime real estate across the National Gallery of Art. Needless to say I was very surprised and glad in my heart

I always remind myself to bring along my camera or Iphone when I run because that leisurely stroll along the mall is like a delicious box of creme filled chocolates, ready to eat -- "you never know who you might meet."

I started my run by the State Department

When I reached Lincoln, I set my sights on Arlington

But the magnetic pull of the mall pulled me towards her

Her force was strong, I couldn't turn wrong

There was something special waiting for me, that's for sure

Little did I know that my spur of the moment run would present me with a very pleasant surprise -- a glamorous Hollywood actress sprinting through the mall like a gazelle, adrenaline pumping, sweat running, the familiar Air and Space Museum looming in the background. Reese looked like one of us. If it wasn't for the cameras and all those extras loafing around, I would have taken Reese to be another typical DC mall runner on another muggy, Washington summer day.

Come to find out, Reese is in town this summer to film her romantic comedy (along with Owen Wilson) entitled "How Do You Know." I guess I didn't really know, but sometimes you don't have to know, to get real lucky.

According to the City Paper:

The quick synopsis is Paul Rudd will play the part of a businessman vying for Witherspoon’s affections, while Owen Wilson is slated for the role of a professional baseball pitcher out to steal her heart.”

The movie also stars Jack Nicholson and the director is James L. Brooks. 


Unfortunately, I did not come prepared with my 7.2 Megapixel, Mega-Zoom camera. The following four fast action shots were dowloaded from ImageBam.com, and thus I would like to give full credit to the photographer (Jericho) for capturing such riveting and dramatic images. Seeing these images of Reese sprinting makes you want to get up and run -- at least I did.

I only wish I looked this good when I'm running

A run along the mall is indeed like a box of chocolates. Today I ran into Reese Witherspoon sprinting along a familiar stretch, crunching loose Capital gravel under her Nikes, sweat running profusely, my heart racing along.

Running along the mall is like a box of treats -- you just never know who you might meet.

Anacostia Waterfront -- A View from Afloat

USS Barry pierside at the Washington Navy Yard

Today, I took a day off from running, because I knew I would be spending the evening on the river -- the majestic Anacostia that is, the river that blows a steady, cool breeze up over the River East hills on a late, summer day, invigorating and fresh like the scent of juniper in a lush, pine forest.

Why did I go?

I have indeed been a faithful and diligent resident east of the Anacostia River for the last six plus years, but I have never set sail on this mystic River before (the Potomac -- yes, indeed, onboard a 17-foot Hunter, with mainsail flapping freely with each puff of wind traversing over the Chesapeake and also swimming freestyle during last year's Nation's Triathlon.) But the good, ole Anacosita, I have unfortunately been saved and deprived of the opportunity for sail or swim.

How I got there

The drive from Anacostia over the venerable Frederick Douglas Bridge, which despite its archaic shape and ancient state provided an expansive view of the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the distraught Nats Park (there's always another season) and of course the expansive green, brown acres of Anacostia Park and the historic area, once called Uniontown.

Bet You Didn't Know

A lot of people and even lifelong Washingtonians are unaware that Anacostia Park extends over 1200 acres with hundreds of acres available for soccer fields, picnicking, basketball, tennis, and other family activity. (The Kenilworth Park, Aquatic Gardens and Kenilworth Marsh are also part of the Anacostia Park.)

As I admired the sweet view from my rolled-down window, I formed visions of exploring Kenliworth, just me and my trusted Brooks running shoes, and a pocket of Cliff shots for endurance, sprinting and prancing among the colorful summer butterflies that feed on wetland plants preserved there. One day, I thought to myself, one day soon this summer, a summer I hoped would never end.

What did I board?

So today was the big day. I was looking forward to my inaugural cruise aboard the luxurious Odyssey along the River that I cross over daily, a remarkable way to observe first-hand some of the development sites and waterfront enhancements, projected down the road, along this historic, meandering river, I've known and love for years.

Peering out on both sides of the river, I could see the familiar Hains Point and the spacious Anacostia Park - both my stompin' grounds for bike and run. And as usual, there were sports-a-holics galore on this mild, summer evening. The sun still shone bright but waning as it was prepping its demise over the grandiose Woodrow Wilson Bridge along the mighty Potomac.

I was energized to see the rowers jabbing the river with such force and strength and pushing water back as if it was solid and firm. The calm ripples glistening in the sun, stroke after stroke, blade after blade. Sweat and salt, I'm sure glistened from their temple and cheeks, but they paid that no mind.

My Participation

Over the last five months, I have participated in several fora regarding the Anacostia Waterfront at the MLK Library downtown. The sessions have been educational and enlightening, and it was wonderful meeting activists from both sides of the river

And today was a special day to cap off the first season of the Waterfront Fora and to thank those who supported and sacrificed hours upon hours during this critical and foundational planning and development phase.

Kirsten Crase, Neida Perez, Nikki Peele and Lashaun Smith discuss critical issues along the Anacostia Waterfront

Realtor, Darrin Davis, poses as the Odyssey sails under the 11th Street Bridge.

What I Learned:

A lot was discussed, a lot was discerned. For me, it was a way to get acquainted with my surroundings and to network with the River East Emerging Leaders to realize once and for all that there truly is a flowing river that runs through home and turf.