Saturday 29 December 2007

Hot run and bbq

It was already 28 degrees when I was picking up some of my nephews. Jim dropped his three down at President's Park for me. We checked the direction of the wind and headed off down towards the paddock where my sister keeps her horses. While I'd been told President's Park was near the stables, I hadn't realised just how close it was.

Simon and Lachlan were really keen to get going, as this was their first run with us. I had to slow them down for the warm up as they took off like bats out of hell. It was hilarious running with the six boys. They were all ahead of me and I was taking up the rear on my own. Eventually Simon came back to me and ran with me most of the rest of the way.

We had the "adults don't get out of the way of children" talk but we only passed one person on the path. The boys all dutifully ran past him in single file. I got quite a grin from him as he came past me. I found the run a little hard at the start, as I couldn't seem to get my breath. I guess the coughing and spluttering does make a difference. Once I settled into it though I was ok.

It was a short run today. After a couple of km's we were passing reasonably close to the carpark so I suggested we head over to get some water. Everyone was more than happy with that idea, but once they'd stopped they weren't at all keen to keep on running. Given the temperature, that made a lot of sense. I suggested a short run to the bridge and back just to bring it up to 3 km. Simon wasn't up for it, so I ended up staying back at the playground with him. All up I ran about 2.5 km.

While the others were off finishing the run and I went off to get the bbq food out of the car Simon found a wallet. To our amazement a substantial amount of money was in it along with some ID, indicating that the guy was a P-plater and was from Daylesford. Simon rang his mum to see if she could get a phone no that matched the address. We were hoping that if he was nearby he could come and collect the wallet while we were still at the park. Simon's mum managed to locate a mobile no for us but I didn't get an answer when I called. In the absence of any other options, we decided that the police station was the way to go.

The two Andrews cooked our breakfast, sausages and bacon, and the other three sat and chatted. So much for choosing a venue with a playground! The older kids enjoyed being in charge of the barbecue and the younger kids enjoyed eating the food, so everyone was happy. We had a bit of a discussion about the wallet and how the young lad would be really pleased to get his money and his wallet back safely. I'm sure the boys would have loved to keep the money but they knew there was no chance of that happening. I made sure I let them know what a good thing they were doing by handing it in.

Jim picked his trio up and I headed off with Andrew and Michael to the police station. On the way, the guy's sister phoned us. As you'd imagine, she was really pleased we'd found her brother's wallet. I told her that we were dropping it off at Werribee Police Station. I'd never been there, so it was an adventure for me. I was all set to hand it over the counter and leave, but the police man had to fill in a property receipt. If I'd realised the paperwork would take so long I would have found out where the owner was and dropped the wallet around to him myself. Still, the policeman was cute and the kids were entertaining. I'm thinking of hiring them out as an act for waiting rooms around the country.

Oh, one for JoJo. I scraped my car on my sister's gate. I hate her gate but I usually manage not to bump into it. This time there is an impressive set of scratches on the rear passenger side of the car. Oh well. They go with the other bumps and scrapes on the car. This had me thinking of one of life's unfathomable questions. How come other people's cars always look so perfect? Don't they take them out of the garage?

5 comments:

lg said...

28 degrees!!!! I don't even walk in that temp! Well done just for getting out there.

I'm sure that person would have really appreciated the honesty in returning the wallet. Karma will come back and reward you all!

MorseyRuns said...

Merry Christmas- just catching up on the blogs and I am so impressed with all the running and cycling you have been doing. I don't have cleats on my bike and I think you are fantastic for persevering with them despite all the worry worts carrying on. Good luck with your goals for next year. (I am a Chaddy girl!)

Andrew(ajh) said...

That guy was so lucky it was someone as honest as you who found his wallet! Many people would have been away with the money, some would have off to the nearest internet cafe to see what they could order off the net with the credit cards too!

jojo said...

..lol.. well you know my car is never perfect.. yeah they were HIDEOUS running conditions today

Pam said...

I echo lg's "28 degrees!!!" I hardly even know what that is in Fahrenheit, but I do know it's really hot. Gosh. You are keen. And fit. And deserving. Well done you!

Happy New Year!