3/27/05

Dear Brother Rod,

WOW!  You are simply amaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!  Having run 13 marathons myself(all Honolulu Marathons), i know what and how much is involved in actually successfully participating and completing a marathon.  Your completion of the Honolulu Marathon last December and the Hilo Marathon last Sunday is unbelievable accomplishment for a full time dentist, artist, husband and father.  CONGRATULATIONS!  You really are daaaaaaaaaaaaa BOMB, bro!  Yes, you continue to inspire as a distance runner today.  Thank you for this from the bottom of my heart and soles!  HAHAHAHAHA!  :)  Running with you on sunday mornings have made me realize that i still am able to do the long distance which i normally don't do since being in the small business ownership seven days a week schedule.  WOHO!  :) 

Our five mile run that we did an hour and a half ago this morning caught me by surprise in more ways than one!  First of all, i didn't expect you to be able to run as well and as fast as we did this morning....at about an 8 minute to 9 minute mile per hour pace!....WOW!  You are in WONDERFUL shape for just after doing a challenging Hilo Marathon only ONE WEEK ago!  My gootness!  Impreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessive thatz for sure!  You ran comfortably and smoothly. 

And, the other thing that i will forever remember about this memorable run is your FALL about a quarter mile before our finish!  I was aghast and stood frozen as i watched you go into a seemingly graceful slide into homeplate and then roll like an black belt judo man in 'slow motion' after tripping over a half-inch rise in the sidewalk!  We were so busy discussing the possibility of you and i taking on the Maui Marathon come mid September this year to honor our dear Mom that you got careless......ooops!  Live and learn, huh?  Gotta always be vigilant about those darn uneven sidewalks of Honolulu!  LOL.   Amazingly, you didn't break anything; but, just dusted yourself off and wiped your little strawberries on your knee and palms like it was not a big deal and just said, "letz finish this run, bro!".......what a tough trooper your are, bro!  And, this is the kind of mental and physical toughness thatz brought you so far in life up to now and will continue to take you even further!  WOHO!  Goooooooooooooooo for it, brother Rod!  You can do ANYTHING that you put your mind and heart into......you always have!  So very very proud to be your 'kid brother'. 

Love you,
Brother Clay

3/26/05

3/24/05

That's awesome!! Congratulations! That's an amazing accomplishment. I'll
be looking forward to seeing you in NY for the marathon maybe. I'll get a
support cheer team ready for you . We can toy around with figuring out how
to use wall space at the salon for your art. You can see what you think
when you see the salon too. Hey, any help with the rent right now would be
helpful I think.  I like the idea of linking our websites. Kevin got my
website up already. check it out www.salonvstyle.com . I already saw your
lastplace ad on google that had salon v on it as well. I like your
runner-artist-photojournalist idea. talk to you later .

Love, Vernelle
Manhattan, NYC

3/21/03 11:18 PM

Hi Rod,

CONGRATS  on completing your 15th marathon!  WOW!  You're the true and real family marathoner now! WOHO!  Your lead as the marathon leader in our ohana continues to grow!  LOL.  I cannot keep up with your tenacious determination, drive and energy, brother Rod!  You're daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa BOMB!  :)

And, this marathon was also very very special in that it was the first one that wasn't a Honolulu Marathon, huh?  WOW!  That must have been so differently refreshing and adventurous, huh?  Right down your alley, huh? A time of 5 hours and 43 minutes is terrific knowing the kind of training that you do and being that it was over an unknown course that you took on for the very first time.  Greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat job!  :) 

It was also nice to hear that you and Erlinda were able to take in some of the sights, sounds and ono foods on the Big Island before and after the marathon.  Gooooooooooood.:) Looking forward to seeing the many photos that you managed to take along the way as you covered this new marathon route, Rod.  I'm sure that it will enable me to feel like i also ran the course with you.  :)  Again, Congratulations, bro.  Take good care of yourself and we'll be in touch with you soon.

Love,
Brother Clay

3/23/05 11:35 AM

> HI Harv,
>
> Know you too, Harv, can partake of my historic run for the Changs through
> God's country- more unspoiled natural beauty than any remaining part of
> Oahu. Glad I have decided to keep my last vacant parcel and has iniitiated
> the drawings of a Bed & Breakfast by an area draftsman.  The forest with
> Ohia trees and majestic giant tree ferns will be kept with the house nestled
> within for the ultimate wilderness experience and privacy.  My hope is that
> relatives and friends will come up for vacations to partake of this extended
> family vacation spot so mentally far away from our turbulent unreal real
> world.
>
> Now, posted for all time, online, my Big Island trek over 26.2 miles. Feel
> very satisfied for having completed this online documentation so quickly
> after the run - legs still stiff - but wanted to get it done for "closure"
> of this monumental accomplishment of my life (2 marathons in 3 month span)
> and when the feelings are still fresh.  I think it is one of the few if not
> only world marathon (there are a few hundred offerings now;
> www.marathonguide.com) documented online with photos of the course 
   and I'm toying with the idea of becoming, via the
> Web, The famous runner-artist-photojournalist that does 'the art of
> running." Have slogan will travelL "Artist in the Running."
   Ha ha, starting kinda late....(pushing 6-0)  but, Erlinda said to get on it and
> check online when exactly is the Eugene Oregon Marathon I signed up for
> which is in June. She needs to get the hotel accomodations going and
> schedule family stuff - Rochelle to Detroit ballet school, boys possibly to
> Disneyland with relatives going and Bronson also visiting USC.  So possibly,
> my next photo art doc of the Oregon marathon. Toying further with signing up
> for the NYC marathon in November and visit Vernelle. She entices me with a
> show in her new beauty salon right at street level, East Village, the heart
> of the artsy scene of the Big Apple.
>
> Here's the Big Island International Marathon -
> http://www.lastplace.com/HiloMarathon05/index.htm
>
> Aloha,
> Rod

3/23/05  4:43 PM 

Rodney,
  Congratulations on finishing the marathon and the views.  Did you stop to
pick up the pennies en route?  Of course taking pictures while you are
running the race is a "gonzo" journalism technique which adds realism and
context to the story.  My current client is a rollerblader as you've seen
from the links and he sees his exercise as an exploration of a deep
psychological space ie "the zone".  He babbles on philosophically in
sometimes very interesting ways and recently you've seen how he quickly
adopted the liquify filter to allow him to dream of becoming a visual
artist.  Anyway you may be able to use running as a theme to bring your art
to more public acceptance since many people are doing it and therefore may
have an interest in your results if you take it farther than a totally bland
journalistic report.  Hunter Thompson coined and defined the concept of
gonzo journalism which you would enjoy reading about if you haven't already.
He just passed away a few weeks ago.
   Sounds like you have a great hide away planned for the big island.
speaking of the big island, I have a friend that wants me to house sit for
him June 28 thru July 31.  Its a bit long for me to stay on the big island
since I'd pefer to job hunt and consider a move back to Oahu or Kauai but
its a free place to stay if I decide to do it.  He and some other old Peace
Corps friends are living about 10 miles above Hilo on the road to the
volcanoe so I think your place is a bit further along the same road.  Its a
pretty area as your photographs document around Hilo but it rains to much
for me to want to live there.  How is the air now?  The air was quite bad
for a few years due to the volcanoe going off and i know that is still
happening.
  I'm most surprised to see a grown up Rochelle in your pictures, I still
think of her as a pretty little princess and now she is a wow!  Good luck
for her in ballet school and the same for Bronson getting into USC but ugh,
i think that's an expensive one so you better point him toward a public
school.
  I haven't forgotten to sign up for the digital group, I've just been busy
with my main client and now I better get to taxes.  I'll get to it.  I'm
also keeping you in mind to go in on a gallery space if i can find a way to
put that together.  My client may move toward that interest as he develops
his visual skills and he has the money to be a good partner but he's not
there yet and his art may take longer to get "there" but I'll keep you
posted.  Let me know where and when you will be in Oregon so in case it
becomes viable for me to get up there then I'll consider it.

  If you've got a fast connection at home then get skype.com to talk over
the computer for free.  Its great.

Aloha,
Harvey (San Diego, CA)

Ingrid
Bavaria, Germany

Hy Py,
you're looking great on the photo. It seems you did it and you got it :)
Great! Your smile is triggers the watcher of the photo :)

You'r Trip to US some months ago was successfull? I hope it for you.
How is life at the other side of the globe?

Here, I'm happy to have my own studio founded. Now the interesting part starts to crowd it and to get benefit of it. Spring rises all around us. The snow melted in recend weeks and little flowers grow.  Still the air is less then 20 degrees and it is most comfortable.


Greetings
Dirk

Bretten/Germany

3/23/05 6:46 PM  (note: dedicated this marathon to my niece's new baby, Parker, born a few days ago; she and I both trained and toiled in different ways yet in parallel chronological time)

"Live Volcano Forest"
Bold, the print you are holding on the web site!
Feels like a later Paul Jenkins--

Saint Wayne
Honolulu digital artist

Hyderabad/India

March 24

I found that you are not only a doctor and artist but also a good photogpher! I
like those  pictures of wonderful landscape and buildings.

Tom Tong

23 miles - you're a nut, maybe a well-toned nut, but still a nut. Congratulations!

Jodi Melfi