BARGE Fun Run (or Walk or Unicycle)
BFR 2023
It was fun! (Duh! It's in the flipping name).
We will meet a little before 7am (and probably wait a little for stragglers--like we always do) outside the North Tower entrance. That's the entrance nearest the North Garage. We'll head out in a clockwise direction going on Joe Brown toward Karen. Then it's a bunch of right turns. People who want to do a 5k will make a loop. People who want to do a shorter distance will need to turn around at the halfway point for whatever distance they want to do.
GamboMouse and mickdog ran. It hadn't yet hit 100F. Blues walked. I walked with him so as not to spill my beer. We four had left at 7am promptly, which was a first but not what I said we'd do. But it was hot. We were in Las Vegas, in July, in the middle of a heat wave, and the sun was shining.
Although an annual tradition, we knew—with this temperature—we'd be few. After the weather forecast, only two others had expressed an interest and one of them, Messenger of Doom, had been up late the night before1.
It's Vegas. I played the odds… and lost. Her text was polite, but she was a little surprised and mildly disappointed that we had left without her. I gave vague directions to Blues, then "ran" back for her.
She and I jogged our way around, discussing our paths to increased fitness and eventually wondering where Blues was.
We finished our lap and GamboMouse was waiting for us. and for Blues2. and for mickdog3. It was a complete success if you ignore the fact that we lost two of the five participants and that I didn't actually bring the BARGE Fun Run bottle openers that I had promised to bring4.
I can't wait until next year!
Background
BARGE is a gathering of people who have an interest in gambling who typically have some sort of tie to people who were exploring gambling on the internet before the World Wide Web.
In addition to the officially scheduled activities, groups of BARGErs get together for both ad-hoc and recurring unofficial activities. Want to get a group of people to go indoor skydiving? You're not alone, a bunch of BARGErs have done it. Pinball Museum? Check. Do you love sushi? Some of us go there every year. Ethiopian? That was a regular event too (until it wasn't).
In 2008, after taking second place in a BARGE weight loss bet, during which he acquired a running habit, Ron Grossberg proposed a BARGE Fun Run. It wasn't widely announced and nobody—not even Ron—attended. He liked running, but early morning and heat were not for him. Not that year.
Perseverance pays and the following year the Fun Run was once again announced5 and this time it was actually held. Turns out BARGE already included a few runners (I certainly wasn't one of them though!). Who knew?
In 2009, I had been hiking for a few years and thought it would be fun to show up for the fun run and attempt to run a mile with a few of my fellow BARGErs even though I had never (to my knowledge) run a mile non-stop in my life6.
I guessed my fitness from hiking would be enough to allow me to do that, but I honestly knew nothing about running and as BARGE 2009 approached, I got nervous. A family member of a friend had a seizure one day when simply walking a bit in the heat. Maybe before I get to Las Vegas, I should try running just to see what it's like. So that's what I did. On July 22nd, 2009, safely in Albuquerque, I ran my first mile and was gobsmacked that I liked it.
One thing led to another (rolls eyes)… and now I run a lot. The toughest race I do each year is the Sandia Snowshoe, but the funnest run I do each year, well, now you know…the rest of the story.
Specifically, he was finishing eighth, which was "in the money", in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament.
My directions were too vague or perhaps outright misleading. Bob continued walking on Joe Brown until he got to Sahara. I called him from the finish line to find out where he was, then ran back to tell him that unlike normal race directors, I would charge him for the extra mileage, but I sobered up out before I got to him.
I did not have mickdog's contact info, but I wasn't worried. GamboMouse said they stayed together up until the last tenth of a mile or so. He must have gone in through a different door. Since he must have, that is indeed what he had done.
I did eventually send them.
On July 20th, 2009 Ron sent:
Folks,
Final details of the 2nd Annual BARGE Fun Run, the only free unofficial BARGE event:
The Fun Run will be 2 miles long, you don't have to run the entire way, but if you aren't running, you will have to be observant (you are a poker player, so of course you are observant!) and be able to follow the trail markings.
Meet at 8:15am on the Binion's side of Freemont St. Experience Friday morning before the TOC. We will have a pre-run briefing and start promptly at 8:30am.
There is no sign up, no participation fee, and no liability insurance. I recommend you bring your own water. Any and all are encouraged to attend. We will probably mob Starbucks for smoothies after the run.
-R
When they tried to get us to do this in elementary school, I walked part of it. I did, however, play a lot of ultimate Frisbee in high school and that involves a lot of running, but with time to catch one's breath in between, at least at my level of skill.