Sunday...

Today, I watched the Bears win for the third time in a row. I also watched Jeff Burton win for the first time in 175 starts, since his seventeen win, Oct. 28, 2001. Sports fan duties filled, Linda and I previewed the half marathon course and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the south side of Des Moines.

Today, the Bears struggled against an excellent Vikings team in Minnesota. In the end, the defenses and kicking games of both teams were featured more than the offenses. From time to time, the running backs broke loose for nice gains or passes were completed but neither team was able to do much on offense ... until the fourth quarter. Rex Grossman finally connected with Rashied Davis for the only points scored by either offense. Bears 19, Vikings 16.


Jeff Burton has been driving a lot of years and has had some very good years but they weren't recent. A year or two ago, he moved to Richard Childress Racing and has been making steady meaningful improvements. Recent races, Jeff would lead, sometimes dominate, only to lose the handle and fall back into the field. Today, that didn't happen. He had to struggle to get past one of his former teammates and still good friend, Matt Kenseth. As the laps wound down, Jeff worked every angle he could think of to get past without resorting to techniques that might risk either or both of their finishes. In the end, Jeff was able to get even with Matt and, ultimately, get by. I'm very pleased to have Jeff on my fantasy team... however, I had him on the bench today. Doh!


This evening, Linda and I drove the course we'll be walking in a few weeks. All in all, a pretty good course. One of the routing decisions that has me scratching my head is the bypassing of one of the recently developed greenspaces, the western gateway area. Instead, we're going to be passing a couple of construction areas on a course parallel to the gateway. That said, we will be passing through, around, and over some of the nice features of downtown Des Moines. This photo is from a late stretch of our walk, midway through mile eleven. With good weather, it should be an excellent day.