Allez, John, allez!

So, last Friday, we forgot to return the girls' library books to school (twice). In the afternoon, John decided to take a short run down to the school with the books and then run a bit more.

We both have been trying to take advantage of the great running opportunities on beautiful dirt roads through vineyards here. I have temporarily been slowed after I twisted my ankle while looking too much at the hills in the distance and not enough at the trail in front of me on one of these vineyard roads last week. My ankle was sore and is fine now but not quite back up to running yet.

Anyway. When John dropped the books, the teacher (noting his very un-Frenchlike running pants and running shoes) asked if he was in training for the Nuits-St-Georges race coming up. John said "um, maybe?" We remembered we had read great things about this race from Franck and Laura and decided to check it out.

Well, I can't think of a way anyone could make a run better. The course (a 10K and a half-marathon -- John will do the 10K) will take runners through beauitful rolling vineyards that are home to some of the most prestigious wines in the region on Saturday afternoon. At the 9th kilometer, we have heard, instead of a cup of water, runners get to sample some local wine! And (my favorite part), at the end, the finishers receive, along with the usual t-shirt, a bottle of Burgundy!

Clearly one of us had to try this. And given my wobby ankle, that someone will be John.

Being France, there was much paperwork involved. Along with  the usual information of name, address, and birthday, runners needed to provide a copy of their medical certificate attesting to no counter-indications for competitive running. Being North American, John did not possess such an official document (or any of the other alternatives that would have come from being a member of various French sporting organizations).

So off to the doctor we went... where John underwent a thorough check of knees, ankles, cardiovascular system and more. All is well, the doctor (and the certificate) said. John is fit to run. (And as an aside -- doctors in France still make housecalls! Mostly for older patients, the doctor told us, but still! How cool is that? Also -- I had sent an email to this doctor Friday evening to make an appointment (avoiding the phone whenever possible, of course) thinking he'd get it Monday morning. But he replied FRIDAY NIGHT. I will refrain from making too many comments about socialized medicine (and concerns that it must be a terrible, terrible thing indeed) and simply say that, as in Canada, we are quite pleased with our medical experiences so far, and have heard only good things about it from others in this area.)

Anyway. Back to the run. John has no plans to be a top finisher in this race of more than 2,000 (despite the belief of Katie and Livie that he will win it all and get a trophy from which he will be able to drink his wine). Instead, he simply plans to do the run (and at times, merely jog), enjoy the scenery (and wine) along the way, and have a great story to tell about it when he's done.  

Allez, John, allez!