Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Space Coast, Florida Marathon

    Space Coast, Florida Marathon

    Smallest field in oldest marathon in Florida – only 27 runners! Be prepared for solitude and humidity.

  • Twin Cities, Minnesota Marathon

    Twin Cities, Minnesota Marathon

      From St. Paul to Minneapolis through cool, crisp air and under autumnal bowers of blazing colors!

  • Venice, Italy Marathon

    Venice, Italy Marathon

      A dream run from the Tuscan countryside into my favorite small city. Set-aside a few days to sightsee and get purposely lost in the labyrinthic, medieval streets and romantic waterways, for as Henry James wrote about Venezia: “The mere use of one’s eyes is enough.” Travel Tip: Fly into Zurich, Switzerland and take the…

  • Barbados, Caribbean Marathon

    Barbados, Caribbean Marathon

      Yah Mon! Evree Ting feelin’ IRIE!! A marathon to break-up a northern winter. Run past sugar-cane fields to the coastline to see the sun rise over the Caribbean tri-colored sea. Rastafarian runners in sandals and big-dread hats will depart the wisdom of the land if you keep pace. Award ceremony after turns into jammin’…

  • Akron, Ohio Marathon

    Akron, Ohio Marathon

      Where the rubber meets the road.There are 300 marathons run annually in U.S. cities from Maine to California. Add Akron to the list. First inaugural and it was a hilly beauty. Race began at the Lockheed Martin Airdock, construction site for blimps and the Goodyear airship flew low overhead at the start. Route included…

  • Miami Marathon

    Miami Marathon

      Sunrise over South Beach and then it pounded rain all morning — super-soaker storms. So wet, at some points couldn’t even see and police out for flood-control. Sloshing through deep puddles on the turns, decided to make it a fun run. 15,000 runners from all 50 states and 40 foreign countries. Came up on…

  • Bermuda Marathon

    Bermuda Marathon

      “You go to Heaven if you want,” wrote Mark Twain. “I’ll stay in Bermuda.” The mid-Atlantic island chain (bunched together), 600 miles east of North Carolina is shaped like a fishhook and crowns an extinct underwater volcano. The sea is turquoise, the beaches pink (colored from the eroded skeletons of the red foraminifer, a…

  • Valley of Fire Marathon

    Valley of Fire Marathon

      Incredibly beautiful and challenging course. Flew into Las Vegas, Nevada; then drove hour north to Overton, a cow town near Lake Mead. Race route out into high desert, through Valley of Fire State Park. Ran among massive rock formations, pumpkin-orange to fire-red and 150 million years old. Out & back with rolling hills, including…

  • Big Island Hawaii Marathon

    Big Island Hawaii Marathon

      26.2 wearing a plumeria lei wafting beguiling fragrance through bamboo forests; under sparkling waterfalls; over black sand and rarest-of-rare green (!) beaches; past present-day gush of island-building lava meeting steam-hissing ocean. . . Hiked day before up over Kilauea caldera moody as a molten moon. . . Post-race, surfed Waikiki at sunset — gliding…

  • The lost Dutchman Marathon

    The lost Dutchman Marathon

      In the late-1800′s, Jacob Waltz, an immigrant Dutch prospector discovered gold in the Superstition Mountains (just east of Phoenix, Arizona). He died without revealing the location of his strike, and treasure seekers have been searching the desert ever since. I went in quest of other profits. The marathon started near the town of Gold…

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