Mission Accomplished!

Thanksgiving day started early at the Qualls' household! My brother-in-law, Rodney (see pic on front page) and I signed up to run the turkey trot as South Park in Charlotte. 6,000 people participated in this race and it was a blast. By the way an 8k is 5 miles, something I have never run before. I put my i-pod on some classic 80's songs and ran in my own world. Matter of fact, Kim and her sister Grace were on the side of the road cheering and I never saw them. Call that focus! :)

Rodney and I ran the last half-mile together which was pretty amazing considering how many people were running with us. My official time was 51:02, which I am very proud of. Next up is a 10-k and then who knows where I go from there. I really can't see my self running a half-marathon or a full marathon, but you never know. I never thought I would eat sushi or running in races in the first place. It is cool to surprise yourself by trying new things. Thanksgiving was a blast.....I have so much to be thankful for!!! The list would go on and on....but let's start and end today with a intimate relationship with the God of the universe who loves me beyond measure.......Amazing! I am a blessed man!

Turkey Trot

I did it! I am now officially signed up for the Charlotte turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day. It will be an 8k run which is right at 5 miles. Not sure I have a goal, but it would be nice to finish under 1 hour. I haven't exactly been training for this event, other than walking regularly and the occasional jog. My brother-in-law Rodney will be running with me. For the record he is 22 years old, I am slightly older than that. :)

The good news is no matter how long it takes me to finish, I will burn enough calories to eat whatever I want for Thanksgiving lunch. Wish me luck and I will post some pics and my finish time on the blog. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Land of the Giants

Isn't amazing how tall some people are? We literally ran into a "giant" this past weekend in Chapel Hill for the UNC basketball game. We had seats about 15 rows behind the tarheel bench. They were awesome seats and we saw many of the former players including Eric Montross. Eric was a star center for the 93' championship team and is approximately 7'0' ft tall.

He was sitting about 6 rows in front of us and my kids were fascinated with him. Stephen wanted to go get his autograph and during one of the time-outs he went down and Eric gladly signed his ticket. It was a big thrill for him and a great night for our family.

Seeing Eric, had me thinking about how big Goliath must have been in the Bible. David was a brave young man to stand up to him and took him down with a few rocks and a slingshot. May we have the courage to face our giants with courage and faith in God to lead us.

P.S. For those interested, Stephen's baseball team will playing for the his league's baseball championship on Friday night. Keep you posted!

Fall Baseball

As most of you know, I am huge yankees fan! This has been a great fall as the yankees just wrapped up their 27th world series championship. I also happened to win in my fantasy baseball league this year. I know to some of you that does not mean much, but fantasy leagues are pretty huge, especially in football. And then comes my two boys who love baseball enough to play another season this year of fall ball.

I decided to be an assistant coach on there two teams, which has been really interesting, challenging, and fun. Matter of fact on Stephen's team it has been a lot of pressure. You see, I am the third base coach which determines whether a players runs or stays at second or third on certain plays. Last night, I had the dreaded honor of getting my first player thrown out at home. I felt bad for the kid, and hoped we would not lose by one run.

As fate would have it, we were behind one run in our last bat to win. Did I mention - this was the playoffs? Anyway, I was redeemed as the first player up hit an inside-the park home-run to tie it and we won the game with a walk-off double. I think I was excited more than the kids were!! :)

So, with only a few games to go, Stephen is one win away from playing for the championship. Ben is still playing in the losers bracket with two wins to go to make it to the championship. Will keep you posted if we can pull the "Qualls hat trick" with a third championship this fall. Have a great weekend everybody and I still can't believe we are playing baseball in November.