Thanks for Reading Harlem 26.2 - Goodbye :(

I am a runner. All runners are people of devotion, commitment, and perseverance - and it is that ethic in me - that motivated me to blog on my reflections and thoughts, through the lens of running, for a full year. Today closes the loop on a full year and nearly 400 blog entries. I never wanted to "play it safe", never cared about being politically correct, did not mind offending anyone, did not spell and grammar check, I just wanted to publish streams of thought - consistently and supported with a myriad of reference sources and documentation, and be authentic to who I am. If I never annoyed or provoked you to think I'm an idiot, I failed. Likewise if I never was able to get you to consider despite all my rough edges and flaws, I'm a decent person at the end of the day - I failed once more. Visceral responses either way are all good with me - I never wanted to be boring - I hoped to be a momentary diversion in the course of your day - a voice saying something you're not likely to hear elsewhere. I wanted this blog to be of interest and accessible to the non-runner. This blog was about entries like this, Eve Pell and Susan Graham-Gray. If you did not catch this blog, click those links - and experience Eve Pell's words & Susan Graham-Gray's spirit. Despite how you see me rip on the Black Marathoners, Eve Pell & Susan Graham-Gray is what this blog was really all about. Eve Pell actually contacted me and thanked me, as did many of the hundreds of people I spoke of (to my surprise). On a ridiculous note the Katie Holmes NYC Marathon Conspiracy entry got picked up by some of the biggest celebrity blog sites in the U.S., went world-wide, and I had people in Russia for example asking me for interviews on it - that one entry has gotten over half a million hits to date. I actually had established sports writers contact me on my blog about Lance Armstrong and told me I was spot on accurate in my comments (I said what they could not). I thought I would be able to but I could not talk about my business matters. Though the country's economic outlook is bleak - I'm going to be okay - things are relatively on a decent track. The sub 3 @ NYC '07 did not happen (3:05). I was sick as a dog that day too, damn. Oh well, I've chosen to bypass cherry picking and finding a flat & fast marathon course somewhere - and fully intend to go sub 3 in '08 @ NYC. Yes the sub 3 would be sweet - but you know what would be sweeter? Just being a regular 'ol father, running around Central Park pushing a baby jogger. That's what I really want - and hopefully that's what I'll be doing in about a year. I mentioned her once or twice - but over this past year I met and got involved with an amazing woman who I shall call "K". If you read this blog closely, at this entry in October I went to Tiffany's here in NYC a week before the NYC marathon and bought the classic 6 prong platinum diamond ring. I will be getting married this Summer, working on getting the "bun in the oven" right now. No sub 3 but a far better happy ending! (which is really the beginning).

I wanted to be a voice out of Harlem that you did not necessarily expect...from Harlem or from a Black man - a voice on distance running. Harlem is a very different place than you might think if you're not current on things.... 2 bedroom condos going for $1 Million+ is standard to see. A point of curiosity - would you believe more White people can be found running through Harlem than Black people? It's true. Anyway and to the point, I wanted to bring to the blogosphere something different on many levels. At least that was the intent.

I can't do this anymore. My business matters are about to be very demanding - I'm planning on getting married, starting a family, buying a second home outside NYC (but I will always live in Harlem), the whole sha-bang. It's going to be hard to even find time to just run - but I will run, I have to run - it's how I keep my head together. This site and all its content will remain here and on-line. Search it, take content from it, share it, there is a wealth of content herein. Anyone can email me by clicking the "View My Complete Profile" button on the side...and I can always be found running....in NYC's Central Park - the greatest place to run in the world, that green rectangle area you see above in the greatest city in the world, New York. It's always neat when other runners, strangers to me, in Central Park give me a "Harlem 26.2" shout out when when passing. Every one of you can do what I did, blog on running, I say go for it!

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to a Black scholar, Dr. John Oliver Killens - novelist, social critic, screenwriter, playwright and essayist and founding chairperson of the legendary Harlem Writers Guild, I can think of no better words in which to say thanks for reading Harlem 26.2 and Goodbye than by expressing the words once again of Dr. Killens' writing "Long Distance Runner"

"It is an interesting phenomenon that we black folks, as a people, have produced some of the most magnificent athletes the world has ever known, but have produced very few long distance runners. We've raised a whole lot of hell in the hundred yard dashes. You watch the Olympics and you see nothing but black brothers up there at the finish tape in the sprints. We have the fastest get-away known to man or womankind. At the same time, we have produced very few long distance runners. Long distance running requires planning, pacing, discipline, stamina, and a belief in the ability to win everything over the long haul. Lasting power is the name of the game... We must evolve a generation of long distance runners - men and women - prepared to pay some dues for their children's children. Our people have paid some terrible dues for us to have come to this place and this moment in time and space."

Nothing but the best to all & always aim high!

Lancelot A. Smith