This weekend, Margaret and I went to New Orleans to run in the Jazz Half Marathon. For the non-runners out there, as it's name would imply, the race is half the distance of a marathon, or 13.1 miles. As an aside, there is a movement to change the name of half marathons to a Pikermi. This comes from the half way point on the map for the historic run that the Greek soldier Phidippides made from the town of Marathon to Athens. To date, I have yet to hear anyone call this race a Pikermi.
Since I no longer have any plans to run a full marathon, and am concentrating on half ones, I see how people may feel like calling the race a half may be downplaying the accomplishment. This was my 7th race of said distance and Margaret's 6th. The idea of doing another 13.1 miles at the end was again not appealing. Both of us were pleased with our performances, but more looking forward to the evening's festivities. For her, it meant braving the Halloween crowds in the French Quarter with her other swim team mom friends (the STM's) and for me, a costume party with Maggie's cousin Philip. Since I am a dad of girls on the swim team, what does that make me? I will let you do the math on that one.
For those who don't know me personally, I am not a fan of dressing up in a costume. I am not even creative enough to think of a good one. Being that I had just run a race in the morning, I figured that I could go as a runner, complete with my race bib and medal. I know, I am Mr. Originality. Even better, it was minimal investment. If there is one thing I dislike more than dressing up in a costume, it is having to spend lots of money to do it.
Although my costume was not going to win any awards, I did do something that I had never done before last night, try a Pumpkin Ale. The specific beer is the Post Road Pumpkin Ale from the Brooklyn Brewery.
The style is described by Beer Advocate as follows:
Often released as a fall seasonal, Pumpkin Ales are quite varied. Some brewers opt to add hand-cut pumpkins and drop them in the mash, while others use puree or pumpkin flavoring. These beers also tend to be spiced with pumpkin pie spices, like: ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. Pumpkin Ales are typically mild, with little to no bitterness, a malty backbone, with some spice often taking the lead. Many will contain a starchy, slightly thick-ish, mouthfeel too. In our opinion, best versions use real pumpkin, while roasting the pumpkin can also add tremendous depth of character for even better results, though both methods are time-consuming and tend to drive brewmasters insane.
Due to tasting a pair of these at a party, I was not able to pour them into a glass to get the full visual, therefore I can only rely on taste and smell. The sweetness was unlike I had tasted before in a beer. As you would expect, lots of pumpkin spices were noted. I usually am not a big fan of fruit infused beers and this is not an exception. To their credit, the Brooklyn Brewery does put actual pumpkins into their mash and not a puree or flavoring. Unfortunately it is still not enough for me to enjoy the flavor. For more info on this beer, please see Post Road Pumpkin Ale
Even though I did not get a picture of the beer or even the bottle, I do have a picture of my awesome costume, or at least part of it. Not seen in this picture are my compression socks and cool wristbands. Philip is Santa Claus and his friend Casey is a British Soldier from the War of 1812.
Cheers!
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