This site is kept in loving memory of Trish Reske, who passed in October of 2021.
Trish was a writer - this site captures a bit of her incredible sense of humor.
You can read Trish's full obituary here.

Pools, Penguins, and Pasta in Paradise

Me and John "The Penguin" Bingham in Key West

Me and John "The Penguin" Bingham in Key West

Last week, I flew down to Key West to spend a quiet weekend with my husband. I left behind four kids and four-degree weather in Boston. Our plan was to relax by the pool, soak up any precious sunshine that came our way, and pretty much do nothing.

That all changed when I arrived at Key West, and decided to try to share a cab ride from the airport.

Always the enterprising one, I spotted a woman and asked her if she wanted to share a ride to the hotel. It didn’t matter that we were in two different hotels.

During the ride, we began to talk. I found out her name was Cecelia, she was from Chicago, and was running the Key West Half Marathon.

My eyes lit up and my toes started tingling.

“There’s a half marathon here?” I asked. “ On Sunday?”

Hmmm. I wasn’t planning on running this weekend, although I am training for the Boston Marathon and was due for a “long run.” But honestly, I’m not that dedicated.

But a half-marathon? Sounded great.

I told Cecelia I’d likely go and she invited me to the pasta party Saturday night.

I declined.

“If I drag my husband to a pasta party, he’ll divorce me,” I said. When I get around other runners, let’s just say I’m very animated. I didn’t think Dave would be able to put up with me. And this was our weekend for two, not 200. But I didn’t say definitely no either.

I arrived at our hotel, the Hyatt Key West Resort and Marina, and met Dave at the pool. It was beautiful: sunny, warm, breezy, everything not Boston. We flopped down on two poofy lounge chairs on the pier, faces tilted toward the setting sun.

I told Dave about the half. He thought it was a great idea. He even wanted to go to the pasta party. Go figure!

So on Saturday, after a great day of daily-grind-detoxing in the hot tub and sailing, we headed off to the pasta party.

Jenny Hadfield was the speaker for the evening. She is an author, speaker, coach and co-owner of Chicago Endurance Sports, and had brought over 100 runners (including Cecelia) down with her for the Key West Half Marathon. She was awesome. I didn’t know much about her, but her resume is very impressive, and she’s a great coach and motivational speaker. She’s also married (I found out later) to John (“The Penguin”) Bingham.

Now I can be a little slow when it comes to this kind of thing, but after sitting at the same table with Jenny, I finally started talking to her hubby, and when I discovered he was John, I was—well let’s just say—over the top enthusiastic.

After smothering the poor guy with hugs and getting a photo taken, I calmed down a bit. But it definitely was a highlight of the evening.

The next day, Dave got up early with me and we walked to the race. He ran 4 miles, and I ran the 13.1, which runs the perimeter of Key West. It was surreal almost thinking that here I was, in the middle of a great race, without even planning to be there. And I met so many great people along the way.

To think I almost didn’t pack my running gear. And if I hadn’t jumped in that cab…

Me and Cecelia celebrating our finish!

Me and Cecelia celebrating our finish!

You just never know who you may run into – or what you may run – while on vacation  🙂

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