Hello from Baton Rouge, LA!

Run Stats:
Day: 100
Miles Completed: 375.4
Miles to San Diego: 1724.6
Avg Miles/Day: 3.8
Marathons Completed: 14.3
Shoes: Skora Fit/Tempo
Playlist Favs: Passion City Church Podcast

Bible Verse of the Day: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Run Reflections: Well, it's hard to believe I've reached day 100 of this journey. It seems like the time (and this year) is going by quickly. My mileage has dropped over the last couple of weeks, partly due to weather but also due to some other commitments. That said, I'm pretty pleased with the miles I have completed so far. I've have made it all the way to Baton Rouge, LA, and rejoined I-10 as it continues west. Weather today in Baton Rouge is beautiful, sunny with a high of 79 degrees. After my run this afternoon, I should be through the city and just about to virtually cross the Mississippi River. I still have a ways to go to get through Louisiana but I have my sights set on virtual Texas where I will likely spend a good bit of the summer.

Baton Rouge: In developing the input for this week, I'm going to take a slightly different approach. Baton Rouge is probably the largest town that I've traveled to on this journey so far, and the amount of possible information seemed pretty daunting as I reviewed it this week. Given that, I'm going to try and just hit some high points that stuck out to me as I was looking for info on this city - focusing on some (hopefully) interesting historical stuff and current day info. I have included a picture of the Baton Rouge riverfront area along the Mississippi River. The tall state capital tower can be seen at the center left. The historic USS Kidd (ship) is moored in the river at the bottom of the picture.

Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana and the 2nd largest city in the state. The name "Baton Rouge" is French for "Red Stick". Wikipedia provided two different possibilities for how this came to be. The first explanation (and the one I happen to believe) relates to the travels of a French explorer, Sieur d'lberville, who led an exploration party up the Mississippi River in 1699. Apparently, the explorers saw a red pole marking the land line boundary between the Houma and Bayogoula Indian tribal hunting grounds and recored this fact in the published account of the expedition. The post (or pole) was reportedly 30 feet high, painted red and adorned with fish bones. The location of the red pole s presumed to be Scott's Bluff, on what is now the campus of Southern University.

Wikipedia also identifies that "Red Sticks" were a traditionalist faction of the Muskogee Creek people in the early 19th century. In their case, the term red sticks was derived from their red-colored war clubs and the ceremonial red sticks used by the Creek medicine men. These guys were apparently a pretty tough bunch and led a resistance movement to European-American encroachment and assimilation of their land. The wikipedia information on the Red Stick Creek Indians by itself was a pretty interesting read with stories of massacres and battles such as the Battle of Burnt Corn. Commanded by General Andrew Jackson, US militia forces finally defeated the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Some Creek survivors from that battle were said to have migrated to Florida where they joined the Seminole tribe.

Another interesting historical fact is that, like Pensacola and many cities along the southeastern coast of the US, Baton Rouge was governed by many different countries including France, Britain, Spain, the Florida Republic and the Confederate States. In 1775, when French-speaking settlers of Acadia in Canada's Maritime provinces were driven into exile by British forces, many took up residence in rural Louisiana around (now) Baton Rouge. The Acadians maintained a separate culture and are now known as the original Cajuns.

Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana and the 2nd largest city in the state. It is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, research, motion picture and growing technology center of the South. It is home to the SEC's Louisiana State University and Southern Louisiana University.

There are a lot of running related things to do in and around Baton Rouge. According to the map run web site, developed by under armor, there are over 11,000 running trails in Baton Rouge. In researching this, I didn't realize there were so many web sites and apps to find running places in various cities. I think this is really cool for folks who travel or are on vacation somewhere. Two of the main running clubs in town are the Club South Runners, Happy's Running Club who meet every Tuesday at 6 PM in downtown Baton Rouge for exercise and camaraderie, and the baton Rouge Fit Club. As defined on the Club South web site, here are some upcoming road races in Baton Rouge:

• 09 April - Fat Boy 5K
• 09 April - Color Run 5K
• 16 April - 2016 Blue Run
• 23 April - Happy's 5000 & Beer Mile
• 23 April - Run for Humanity @ USS Kidd
• 07 May - 3rd Annual Superhero Dash @ LSU
• 28 May - Run for the Children, benefitting St Jude's Hospital

One race that stuck out to me on this list was the Color Run 5K being held today. I had the chance to run in a Color Run with my daughter Molly on July 4th, 2014. It was a really great experience before, during and after the race and I was really impressed by the atmosphere and environment of fun that surrounds these events. Another cool thing is that you really don't have to be a runner to participate. I've included a picture of Molly and me taken during the after race celebration. It's probably too late to make today's race in Baton Rouge, but I'd encourage you to consider signing up for one if you hear of a race near your area. It was definitely one of the most fun races I've been a part of.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about Baton Rouge this week. I continue to feel blessed to be healthy enough to pursue this running challenge and to try and use this as a chance to learn about blogging and support some awesome charities and organizations along the way.

Have a great week!

Peace Out

Pat