The Evergreen Cemetery on Jacksonville's Northside is the venue for a couple of 1st Place Sports' Grand Prix events. The race information for this event says, "This is a beautiful course through Evergreen Cemetery. The course runs through stately oak and magnolia trees and is about 90 percent shaded."

The permanent residents of the area no doubt enjoy having such lively activity going on in their midst.

Norm Wyner was out on the course looking for runners wearing gold and blue AIR Singlets. The first runner he spotted was Keith Poythress. Following in Keith's wake were Gary Haslip and Frieda Wyner.

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The next three AIR members to appear were Ed Hardee (A.K.A. El Presidente), Kevin Ott who fell off Ed Hardee's blistering pace, and new AIR member Brooke Springer who has started her training for the 2009 Walt Disney Marathon.

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Rosa Haslip took a pass on the race because of an injury but served as a photographer during the run. She knows the AIR members better than Norm and was able to spot Randy Arend and Carolyn Peeples running without AIR Singlets. Now it's Rosa's job to see that Randy and Carolyn wear AIR colors for their next run :-)

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A race director's worst nightmare occurred when a railroad locomotive arrived on the tracks that pass through the cemetery. The runners decided it wise to yield the right of way to the loco. Doug Alred said that this was the first time such a thing had happened. After the run, it was time to head for the AIR/Striders Hospitality Area. Randy Arend, Al Saffer and Ed Hardee discussed some running related subject. Gary Haslip, and Keith and Gayla Poythress relaxed while others had coffee and baked goods. The combined AIR/Strider Hospitality Area was a big success and plans to make this a regular feature at area races are in the works.

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