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WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago.
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If you know someone who is going to be out there for "a while," we want to hear their story. Please, send them our way.
http://www.chicagonow.com/...marathon-runner.html

Thank you

David
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [tridaddy7] [ In reply to ]
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I just hope the temps are not over say 72.5F as it will be SO SO SO hot so that the folks who cant run a half in under three hours will almost die...then again, if it is under 68F then the hypothermia will set in rapidly.

Sorry but it seems to me that more than half of the folks who are at a mary any more are just fat ass' trying to get a shirt and medal....looking to one day tell a story about the saga and suffering of their 11 minute pace "race".

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I just hope the temps are not over say 72.5F as it will be SO SO SO hot so that the folks who cant run a half in under three hours will almost die...then again, if it is under 68F then the hypothermia will set in rapidly.

Sorry but it seems to me that more than half of the folks who are at a mary any more are just fat ass' trying to get a shirt and medal....looking to one day tell a story about the saga and suffering of their 11 minute pace "race".



Wow, thanks for capturing so perfectly why I traveled twice to New Hampshire (from Northern Illinois) to do the Mooseman Half, but won't drive 45 minutes to do Rockman. I've also done Musselman, Eagleman, and Spirit of Racine. I'm doing Steelhead next year and briefly thought about doing Rockman as well. Thankfully you posted, and I came to my senses.

Not everyone is fast. I wish I was. I keep training, keep working, but it's not a quick process (and I've been doing this and IM for 5 years). Not all slow people are in it for the medal, t-shirt or to brag about it at work. I enjoy the training and "racing." Even if the "racing" is just against myself.
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [mellyf] [ In reply to ]
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+1. I'm so glad to learn that my laughably slow pace isn't really racing. What a relief! :-D

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The beatings will continue until morale improves
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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Like mdraegernyc I'm am really relieved the 13 minute miles I "raced" for my double marathon isn't really racing. Take lots of pressure off me for the 100k I'm doing at the end of Oct. Thanks!

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [mellyf] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
In Reply To:
I just hope the temps are not over say 72.5F as it will be SO SO SO hot so that the folks who cant run a half in under three hours will almost die...then again, if it is under 68F then the hypothermia will set in rapidly.

Sorry but it seems to me that more than half of the folks who are at a mary any more are just fat ass' trying to get a shirt and medal....looking to one day tell a story about the saga and suffering of their 11 minute pace "race".



Wow, thanks for capturing so perfectly why I traveled twice to New Hampshire (from Northern Illinois) to do the Mooseman Half, but won't drive 45 minutes to do Rockman. I've also done Musselman, Eagleman, and Spirit of Racine. I'm doing Steelhead next year and briefly thought about doing Rockman as well. Thankfully you posted, and I came to my senses.

Not everyone is fast. I wish I was. I keep training, keep working, but it's not a quick process (and I've been doing this and IM for 5 years). Not all slow people are in it for the medal, t-shirt or to brag about it at work. I enjoy the training and "racing." Even if the "racing" is just against myself.
Don't get so worked up. I believe R10C isn't necessarily putting down the slow folks. The Chicago Marathon has a LOT of "one and done" marathoners. People who do the RW "run 3 days/week and finish a marathon plan." The ones who don't make athletics a lifestyle before anyone says "At least they got off the couch." They'll be right back on the couch as soon as they get their medal, working on making their asses look like 150lbs of chewed bubble gum. Hopefully, a couple really will turn things around. I'm guessing a majority of the people who complained when it was so hot fell into this category. They were forced to have to do it again to get a medal; sacrifice 3-4 days/wk for 12 whole weeks.

You're cutting off the nose.... I believe you have a pretty good event in your back yard. Kudos to you for working hard, and no need to put racing in quotes. Keep moving forward!
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [JenHS] [ In reply to ]
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100k - now you know that is a whole other ball game, I dont thing most of us - myself included could do 100k at ANY pace :-)

I do however stick to the fact that unless you are PC, have serious medical/weightloss or in a more mature age group....11 minute miles for a person who is 25-40 and in any inkling of a decent shape 11 minute pace is not a "race", it is a "participate" - there is nothing wrong with participating. Where it becomes laughable is when people will spend the few weeks after their "race" bragging about their BOP finish...then there are folks (many on this forum) who RACE, they put it all out there and RACE...but, you would never ever know it randomly in a coffee shop. It is a shame to me that USA has the slowest AVG Marathon and Iron distance times on the planet. If you look at the avg. AG at Roth, WA and other races (I dont know of any international marathons as that is now what I am in to) to name any off hand - but I do know (from reading an article in Running magazine) that the times are getting slower and slower - yet participants expect more and more and more. I could mention the IronMan "mile to mile run course buffet"....but that would make me elitest. ;-)

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I just hope the temps are not over say 72.5F as it will be SO SO SO hot so that the folks who cant run a half in under three hours will almost die...then again, if it is under 68F then the hypothermia will set in rapidly.

Sorry but it seems to me that more than half of the folks who are at a mary any more are just fat ass' trying to get a shirt and medal....looking to one day tell a story about the saga and suffering of their 11 minute pace "race".

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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [swimfan] [ In reply to ]
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You imagine the replies had the OP been on letsrun.com? Hell, they woulda found the OP's mothers e-mail and sent her mean messages for birthing this person....but, thats their style.


And as for my race - I PREFER that the knoingly BOP folks NOT sign up. This year we paid over $450 in police services so that we could keep control of intersections on the bike course for one last cyclist who was on the course - a full 2 hours behind every other person who got off of the bike course. So, the options are...pull the cops...there is only one person left out right? Or, leave the cops and pay....or do what WTC, NAS and more and more folks are doing - TIME LIMITS. I guess that time limits are elitest too I bet cause they are just their to fulfil a personal life goal. I just dont get it how folks cant seem to take notice that people at the far BOP are getting a much higher ROI on their entry fee and cost a TON more to keep on the course (police, ambulance, voulenteers, electrical, and on and on....all waiting - for folks who could have TRIED to train).

I think that everyone should have to see an IM race at midnight.....12:00:01 am and the lights go OUT, music off, shows over, stick it with a fork cause no matter where you are on the course...they are done.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [tridaddy7] [ In reply to ]
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You should post this on the Chicagoland's TNT website if you are serious. You will not walk alone.
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [paul_tx] [ In reply to ]
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OK. I have to admit, I have no idea what a TNT web site is? Can you explain? Also to the rest of the people complaining about slow runners, what does it matter? If you are "that" fast, why does something behind you bother you so much?
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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Dude, lighten up! We are the most obese nation in the world. Most weatlhy and most obese. Obesity is a huge problem in the U.S.. Be happy these people are getting off the couch and trying to even complete (or "participate in") a marathon, IM, triathlon, whatever. That's much better than sitting around and doing nothing. If they want to brag about it afterwards, who cares?
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [tridaddy7] [ In reply to ]
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TNT= Team In Training.
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [paul_tx] [ In reply to ]
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Right. Duh! Great idea!

Thank you

David
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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I hope I don't regret this but here it goes:
I am one of these slow people out there doing these things. 2 1/2 years ago I decided I needed to make a change in my life and had gastric bypass surgery. In that first year I lost 200 lbs and completed my first century. In August in started thinking I probably could complete a marathon and did the Detroit Marathon. I wasn't fast by any means, I hoped to complete it in under 5 hours and I did so (4:58:xx).
After reading race reports and hearing from people who did triathlons I decided that I really wanted to try them. I had to have some plastic surgery as a result of the weight loss and was not able to start swimming until March. During the summer I completed 6 sprints and 2 HIM, Muskoka being one of those. At Steelhead I was 20/49 in the swim, 15/49 on the bike and 43/49 on the run. I have no problem identifying where I truly, truly suck in these things!
I'll be one of the slower ones next year at CdA, I think 15:xx is doable.
I'll be doing the Detroit Marathon again on October 19 and the NYC on November 1. I wish I'd be faster than I'm going to be, but I'm starting to think 4:40-4:50 is unfortunately where I'll be in Detroit and NYC I'm proudly going to be participating in that one! I plan on bringing a camera and enjoying the entire experience. If I'm feeling incredible that can change but if not that's my plan.
Hopefully when I do the Disney marathon in January I can get my time down to 4:20 or better.
NOW, here's the kickier:
I'm a high school teacher and as a result of people watching my journey and what I'm doing now there are 2 additional teachers running the half in Detroit. One of my students will also be joining me as he completes his first half (in his first year of running) and a second had to back out due to an injury. I have several students starting to talk about wanting to do triathlons next year.
The BEST part of it though is the kids who have always been sedentary are now starting to walk a little more than they used to.
I know I'm putting this out there to a group of people that I just look at with envy at the races I'm at. I wish I had your speed and I'm working to get there. My goal is to be at least MOP if not in the back of the FOP folks next year. If you look at me you wouldn't know what I did to get to that start line or the people who are watching me and saying; 'hey, maybe I can do that too'.

I guess I hope I don't become as cynical as some are on these boards to the people who WON'T be making a podium unless they experience an incredibly weak field
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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Or, leave the cops and pay....or do what WTC, NAS and more and more folks are doing - TIME LIMITS. I guess that time limits are elitest too I bet cause they are just their to fulfil a personal life goal. I just dont get it how folks cant seem to take notice that people at the far BOP are getting a much higher ROI on their entry fee and cost a TON more to keep on the course (police, ambulance, voulenteers, electrical, and on and on....all waiting - for folks who could have TRIED to train).

I think that everyone should have to see an IM race at midnight.....12:00:01 am and the lights go OUT, music off, shows over, stick it with a fork cause no matter where you are on the course...they are done.


I have no problems with time limits, cut-offs, etc. I agree that they need to be in place, for the safety of everyone involved. I also think that people who don't take the race seriously and don't train properly shouldn't be out there. Each person needs to take responsibility for him/herself. And sadly, there ARE people who think they are "entitled" to finish a marathon, triathlon, whatever, no matter how it may impact race logistics, etc. I'm not defending the person who isn't prepared to do the race OR doesn't want to accept the consequences of not being prepared.

Regardless, imo, you show a lot of disdain for people who are not fast. Even though I can apparently be "excused" for being slow (I'm in the 45-49 age group), I've never been fast.

And this... Where it becomes laughable is when people will spend the few weeks after their "race" bragging about their BOP finish...then there are folks (many on this forum) who RACE, they put it all out there and RACE...but, you would never ever know it randomly in a coffee shop. I'm not sure we can lay the stereotype of the self-involved triathlete at the door of the BOPer, or at least ONLY at the door of the BOPer.
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry but it seems to me that more than half of the folks who are at a mary any more are just fat ass' trying to get a shirt and medal....looking to one day tell a story about the saga and suffering of their 11 minute pace "race".

That's pretty harsh. I know a couple of ladies that run 6-7 hour marathons and I think they suffer more than I do when running. I don't think I could handle being on my feet that long. There are plenty of people who want to check off the event on their life list, but these ladies have trained as hard as anyone I know and have completed probably 10 marathons each.

Ken


"the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." - Slowman
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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I PREFER that the knoingly BOP folks NOT sign up.

....or do what WTC, NAS and more and more folks are doing - TIME LIMITS.

If the BOPs don't show up then I'll be BOP and I don't need that in my life! ;-)

Time Limits are completely reasonable as people know what they'll be before the race starts and before they sign up. I know for Toronto marathons, after 6 hours people who haven't finished are told to get on the sidewalk and obey traffic signals which is reasonable. I don't know when they pull the timing system though.

Ken


"the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." - Slowman
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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At the end of the day...at least those slow people don't look like a massive tool!


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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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My point, ultimately, is that some people do this stuff simply to see if they can. I know that's why I always push distances, to see how far I can go before I "break". Some do that with speed, others do with distance.

We've gone around and around on this more times than I can count on this forum. I've never been able to get anyone to come up with the definitive pace/time that means someone "raced". To me, if you are in pain and have nothing left when it is over, you raced.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [JenHS] [ In reply to ]
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I've never been able to get anyone to come up with the definitive pace/time that means someone "raced". To me, if you are in pain and have nothing left when it is over, you raced.

In my opinion if you aren't within one minute of the last "placing" position you didn't race. In our sprint series that's 5th place but normally I'd say third. However, there is nothing wrong with participating and in a culture of fatties every calorie burned is a good thing.

Ken


"the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." - Slowman
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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100k - now you know that is a whole other ball game, I dont thing most of us - myself included could do 100k at ANY pace :-)

I do however stick to the fact that unless you are PC, have serious medical/weightloss or in a more mature age group....11 minute miles for a person who is 25-40 and in any inkling of a decent shape 11 minute pace is not a "race", it is a "participate" - there is nothing wrong with participating. Where it becomes laughable is when people will spend the few weeks after their "race" bragging about their BOP finish...then there are folks (many on this forum) who RACE, they put it all out there and RACE...but, you would never ever know it randomly in a coffee shop. It is a shame to me that USA has the slowest AVG Marathon and Iron distance times on the planet. If you look at the avg. AG at Roth, WA and other races (I dont know of any international marathons as that is now what I am in to) to name any off hand - but I do know (from reading an article in Running magazine) that the times are getting slower and slower - yet participants expect more and more and more. I could mention the IronMan "mile to mile run course buffet"....but that would make me elitest. ;-)

Sadly I Agree!

Don't get me wrong everyone and add me to the flame pile. I am myself a middle to back of the packer and it doesn't make me feel very good, knowing that I don't put in the effort to be a front of the packer.

When friends or co-workers say "Wow, you did a 1/2 IM", I sheepishly comment that I really just finished it, but didn't really "do it". To me finishing the event and feeling that I should have been a minimum 1 hour faster bothers me inside and I feel that I let myself down.

Sure I lost 30 pounds and finished Calgary 70.3 on basically 3 months training, but it took me 6-1/2 fu#@king hours, which really is lacking IMHO.

Conclusion - don't have any issues with people "just doing it" but definitely feel that if you "just did it", as I did/do, then 0 bragging should be done about it. Hell, even if you're in the top 10%, you shouldn't brag about it.

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"Chrissie wins because she trains really f'ing hard and races really f'ing hard and was blessed with a huge f'ing motor" Jordan Rapp
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [JenHS] [ In reply to ]
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I will reply to you first on my most recent "Flame Chip for saying what many think" thread. You, whom I have read race reports from the past many years are not at all like "them" (when I say them I mean the folks who are in way over their head). There is not a time per-say. More over, there is a mindset. I can not tell you how many people I have seen in the years since I started playing the IM game decide to start to prepare for a "race" - two weeks prior. It even more pisses me off that races sell out at a number (I know what it is but will not post it) - so, there is a mad dash to enter an M-Dot brand race the day or hours after a race to just get in. The fact of the matter is that hundreds of entries are sold but never taken. I myself know folks who have a "goal" and sign up for an Iron race (they have a year to train right?). They never train, never try and dont show up...and thus took a spot from a person who dispite the fact they did not get into a race - DID train and DID prepare and will do other races that are out there - all while wishing they were at the big show that is M-Dot.

Marathon anymore is cliche at best. So someone can walk 26 miles. That in decades past was common place and nothing at all to brag about. I guess getting out of in front of the TV is a good thing....but the biggest joke about Chicago is the fact that folks were bitching about the "heat" as if it was 102+, then bitching about running out of water (they didnt), and bitching about everything - all while they were at less than mile 13 at HOUR 3! Shit, if one is going that slow maybe they should PREPARE and wear a CamelBack.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [redtdi] [ In reply to ]
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Ah, got it. If you aren't fast you don't race. Thanks for clarifying.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: WANTED- A slow marathon runner is Chicago. [saxman] [ In reply to ]
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You happen to have the proper mindset. Oddly, I really doubt that I would ever hear you in a rant about no water (Chicago never ran out of water), terrible heat (it was in the 70's), mobs to fight for fluids (huh), and lack of support at a race. Like I said, for most folks it is not a "race" - it is a "participate", and that is great. In any sport be it running, Tri, baseball or even darts there are far more folks who "participate" than who are really there to be the best of the best. Personal goals are all that I can most others here can strive for - but when that goal means nothing, being prepared means nothing and making a trivial argument about "what they" (meaning the Chi Mary folks in years past) did wrong to ruin "their" day is bullshit. The first person the folks who were bitching about the temps and support at the Chi Mary looked should have been themselves - for showing up unprepared.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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