Go Jo!

My crazy Canadian friend Jodi is competing in the Goofy Challenge this weekend.

Do you know about this event? Participants run a half marathon on Saturday then a full marathon on Sunday. And in Jodi's case, they go directly to the nearest spa for massages each day after the runs. Then to a bar once the whole thing is complete.

Jodi's family moved to Richmond from Toronto when we were in seventh grade. She sat beside me in French class, and soon a friendship was born. They moved back to Canada at the end of seventh grade, and I was devastated. She flew down to visit me that summer, and every time she was supposed to go home, we begged our parents for an extension.

We wrote sporadically over the years but didn't see each other again in person until 12 (or maybe more) years later. Jodi and her husband Bruce drove cross-country on their honeymoon, and on the way back to Toronto they dipped through the southern United States. When they were in Tennessee, she called me out of the blue and asked to stop by. Our friendship was soon right back where we left it, plus alcohol, and as a bonus, our husbands get along great. We've visited each other often over the years.

Neither one of us has ever been particularly athletic, so it was a surprise to me when Jodi ran the Chicago marathon a few years ago, and with a damn impressive time. Bruce even qualified for Boston and ran it two years ago! Now she's doing a half and a whole marathon in the same weekend. Clearly, she has become an athlete.

Good luck Jodi!!! I hope you have a blast!

And if you decide to swing through Virginia on your way home, you know where to find me...