On the road again...

"On the road again - Just can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is making music with my friends And I can't wait to get on the road again"--Willie Nelson

I'm not a big fan of country music, but that pretty much describes what I'm doing the next ten days, as I make my annual trip to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships which will be held on March 30th in Edinburgh, Scotland.

This marks the eighth consecutive year that I've taken this trip as part of Team USA, helping with media relations.

I'm guessing that things won't be as constrictive for us as it was last year in Mombasa, Kenya. If I can swing it somehow, I am hoping to make a pilgrimage to St. Andrew's Golf Course, but we'll see.

The trip starts Saturday with a flight from Seattle to London, then on to Athens, Greece for a visit with my good friends Maya Barlos & Dimitris Stagakis, along with their two kids. I'm also hoping to meet up with some of my Greek friends in the sports media business that I got to know through my dealings with the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Monday is the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia, about a 4-hour drive from Athens. I'm thinking that would be a once-in-a-lifetime event to attend, but it's on such short notice. Maybe I can get motivated and take a car from Athens and make that trek...or maybe not--we'll see.

Tuesday is Greek Independence Day, so this could be interesting. I have absolutely no clue what to expect.

Thursday, I leave Athens to go to Edinburgh, via Frankfurt and meet up with the folks on Team USA, including University of Washington freshman Lauren Saylor, who is part of the junior team, along with UW recruit Kendra Schaff of Canada.

Sunday the 30th, we race, and Monday morning, I'm off to Athens, as I'm using a frequent flyer ticket, so I have to go home to the USA via Athens...oh, well.

I'll blog my thoughts over the next few days here...as always, stay tuned!