Acorns and Turkeys

I made a big mental slip. A Brain fart. I really thought my 15K race in Erie was today. Last night I went on the race web site to check something and discovered that its next Sunday the 27th. Sure glad I discovered this before I drove the hour and half to Erie, PA.

So today I went to Mill Creek park and ran 10 miles by myself. I thought maybe one of the people I normally run with might be there but no luck. A group of speedsters were there I figured if I ran with them I could keep up for a 100 yards or so on a good day. I kid you not, one of them is a nationally ranked age grouper in Running Times. So I put on the MP-3 player and went off alone.

I ran in to a family of 4 turkeys a couple hundred yards after I started. Then I realized it was also acorn season has they were all over the place. also dropping off trees has I run, including one hitting brim of my cap. I then ran thru another group of turkeys, 7 more this time. This park is in the middle of Youngstown so I assume theres no hunting I would imagine this helps the turkeys stick around so long. I also saw a coupld of deer.

All the while I listened to the podcast Phedippadations episode #204 by Steve Runner. This episode he interviewed Jim Keady of TeamSweat He's on a mission to get Nike to treat and pay its workers around the world a liveable wage. With the millions that Nike spends on advertising and gives to spokespeople IM sure it could afford to do that. I dont expect the workers in third world countrys to get rich making Nike or other companys running shoes and clothes but would be nice to be able to buy the stuff guilt free (or close to it) At least not wondering if it was made by some child in a sweat shop forced to work long hot hours. Corporate greed is ruining this country, no reason a company cannt make millions and pay/treat its workers decently.

I normally not into listening to things about causes but being a runner this one hit closer to home. Yes I know I wont change the world or get Nike's attention. I was never a big fan of Nike but the Nike stuff I do have I think is good stuff. No complaints. His plan to try to get Nike to change, since they are the industry leader makes sense. Others would most likely follow. He doesnt advocate a boycott, but if one company led the way, a boycott of the others that didn't follow suit might make sense.

Anyways if you get a chance go listen to it yourself.
Phedippidations PodCast Website

TeamSweat

TeamSweat » A Marathon Runner Speaks Out on Nike’s Sweatshops