My life would be perfect if I were able to run in the morning, sail in the afternoon, eat and drink in the evenings with good friends and share our thoughts on all of the above amongst each other.

Finally the opportunity to somewhat realize this dream came true. My sailing mates Leslie, Louise, George and Jean planned to sail from Boston to Salem this past Friday and invited me to join them. This could not have come at a more opportune moment as the First Annual Wicked Half Marathon was to happen on Saturday. So, I gratefully accepted the invitation to sail and sleep on the boat. My friends thought it would be very unique to see me run the half, while they were sipping their morning coffee.

Friday arrived with dire weather warnings and after some backing-and-forthing on whether we would sail, we made a democratic decision that we had enough able sea(wo)men to safely crew the Olson 25, Golden, northwards in Massachusetts Bay.

Despite promises by George of bringing a whole turkey and a wild boar, hasish and threats that he would throw away any Chardonnay, we set off early afternoon after loading sufficient quantities of bread, crackers, cheese, condiments and fruits (no bananas on a boat, thank you) and of course wine to last us a week. We had pleasant 10-15 kts SW winds pushing us along at a comfortable 6 kts. The wind for the most part was on our beam, which made for extremely pleasant sailing. Soon enough we settled into our pattern of rotating duties at steering, sheeting in the sails, navigating and looking out.

We arrived in Salem Bay with plenty of time to navigate the tricky channel that would take us into Salem harbor. It is always surprising how much longer it always takes to wind our way through a narrow channel with shoals on all sides and we did not make landfall at Pickering Wharf until after dark.

After a nice dinner of Thai style bouillabaisse at Finz on the waterfront, we called it an early night, contrary to normal sailor behavior. Five people on a 25 foot sailing boat is a rather cramped situation, but it was not uncomfortable, especially for just one night.

I woke up at 6 and donned my running gear and wound my way through the quaint but deserted streets of Salem to get to the start line. Registered, picked up t-shirt, stretched and lined up. The only thing on my mind was that I had had no nourishment to sustain me through the half marathon distance.

The gun went off, and fellow Community Runner Barbara shot out of the gates with gusto. I was a little more hesitant, clocking 9:46 for the first mile. The route took us through downtown Salem and along the water to Marblehead. At mile 3, I got my rhythm, pacing with a beautiful young lady named Melinda (great genes and lots of training, I was told) and was able to knock down my pace to 8:30 per mile. As we wound our way through the main streets of Marblehead we were all looking forward to the causeway that would take us to the Neck. The breeze felt good as we ran up the one steep hill in the course. Running past the beautiful homes and the harbor, I was thoroughly happy to be there that morning. We looped the neck went back into Salem, running along Derby Street and finishing at the high school where the race started. There were plenty of post race refreshments and a massage therapist who worked on my stiff hip flexors.

For a first time offering, the Wicked Half Marathon was incredibly well organized with many volunteers to direct the rather heavy traffic and to replenish us with water, Gatorade and gels. The folks at B&S Fitness, Salem Parks Department and the town police did a great job at making the runners feel comfortable, safe and welcome.

I went back to the boat, met my friends and we had an equally comfortable sail back to Boston to meet many more sailing friends for a sushi dinner.

Sail, run, eat and drink, friends – life is perfect! It is more than perfect with a new personal best for a half marathon, fair winds and following seas.