Overcome at Monday’s Pelagic Run Club runners’ happy hour on my birthday

This might rank as the best birthday I’ve had in my entire 68 years on the planet.

On Saturday (10/11/25), Bob and I felt like local celebrities when we wore our specially made t-shirts to the Pelagic block party:

and many of the people there were members of the Pelagic Run Club, which runs by our house every Monday around 6:15, and whom we cheer on while having a front-yard happy hour with friends and neighbors.

We’ve been cheering them on for a little over a year now, and it was so great to meet many of them at the party.

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So 2 days later, on Monday, 10/13/25, which just happened to be my birthday, there I was just going through our usual preparation and set-up for our weekly happy hour and cheering event, with no knowledge of this message the run club’s esteemed leader and organizer, Jay, had sent to their runners’ email list.

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So, it’s Monday run club and our front-yard happy hour now… and as the runners approached they started yelling, “Happy Birthday, John!” (perhaps goaded on by this sign on a car up ahead of me that they could see but I couldn’t):

The were waving greeting cards and signs for me, which they either handed to me or put on a nearby table as they passed by.

The gallery of runners bearing cards and other birthday greetings. (You can click on first picture and flip through the gallery, if you’re interested in enlarged versions.)

This is a different gallery, click on the first pic to flip through.

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Here’s the table, which my friends who had helped plan all this had conveniently placed by the road to facilitate the runners dropping off their greetings.

A few of the runners whom we’d met on Saturday at the block party stopped for a bit to wish me a happy birthday.

And here I am giving their leader, Jay, a huge hug of thanks!

In the end, my friends set everything out on my car to capture the overwhelming stash of greetings!

Including signs made with love…

And as a sign of our times, a special THC-infused drink delivery from one of the runners. Thanks, Cyndi!

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This was by far our largest happy hour gathering with around 65 people comprising friends and neighbors!

More than once, I was overcome by all of the love — between the entire group in the yard singing happy birthday to me, one friend playing happy birthday to me on his trumpet, and by all of the cards and greetings coming in, particularly when gratefully realizing of all the work that so many people put into making this happen.

Thanks to all of our friends and neighbors for being there and for your best wishes, whether in greetings or gifts — or both.

A special thanks to a group of Mordecai friends and neighbors (Beth, Ella, Guy, Sam, Claire, Jen, & Michael Ann) who:

• Worked ahead of time with Jay from Pelagic to ask the runners to sign greeting cards
• Made signs ahead of time for the runners to pick up as they neared our house
• Staffed a place up the street during the event to hand the runners the signs to give me as they passed by

And a huge thank you to Jay and all of the runners of the Pelagic Run Club who have my heart!

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And finally, you saw that pile of birthday cards on the car above. I received 25 of them from the runners with a total of 94 good wishes inside them. Who’s counting???

Here are pictures of 8 of the cards. And in between them are the sentiments from most of the other cards — all of which I’m capturing here for posterity.

Thank you for cheering us on at the point of the run when we are questioning the run! Maggie

Awesome John! Thank you so much for making our Mondays so fun and special! Happy birthday! From Iza & Devin (your new friends!)

Happy freaking birthday!! Derick

You’re the BEST! Liz & Alex

Happy bday John!! – From the guy that yells and twirls his shirt in the air.

Happy birthday, John! We appreciate y’all!

John! Happy birthday. Your cheers and smiles motivate us each Monday. Thank you for being a ray of sunshine. Love, Tori (Pelagic Run Club)

Happy birthday, John! Thank you so much for supporting us on these Monday night endeavors. Alex H.

So awesome to wish you a Happy!!! Birthday!!!! Hope you are having a great one and have a lot of people to wish you a good day! Thanks for all you do!!!

John! You’re amazing! Happy birthday! Eliza

Happy birthday to the captain of the very best cheer crew! We appreciate you so much! The Chiodos

Thank you for all the encouragement! Now it’s our turn to cheer you on! Happy birthday, John!!!

Love your house dearly. – Derick

Feliz cumpleaños! Ari P

Happy happy birthday! We appreciate you so much. Makes my day every Monday! Callan

John, thanks for making Mordecai such a lovely and welcoming neighborhood. Little act of kindness (such as cheering on runners every week) make a wonderful difference. Y’all rock!!! Love, Alex, Michael, Craig, Anna, & Liz

Happy birthday, John!!! If I wasn’t running, I would absolutely want to be invited to your house to party. Today we cheer for you! Charlotte

Happy birthday! Thanks for all the joy you bring to our runs. – emily

Happy birthday, John. Thanks for all the cheers and support. Mike.

Happy birthday, John! Thanks for all the good cheer! Loren, Rusty, Krebs, Chip, and Tom

Happy birthday, John! Hope it’s a great one and the drinks are extra strong at the Big Red House today! – Mike

Happy birthday, John!!! Thank you for always cheering on our run club every week. 🙂 Reb

Happy birthday! Thanks for spreading so much joy! – Lucy

The highlight of every Monday! Happy birthday! Jen

Happy birthday, John! Thank you for all of your support. You keep our spirits high! Diana, Ryan, Carly, Nathalia, Michael

Happy birthday, John! Thanks for the cheers every week! – Jesus 🙂

HBD! Thank you so much for the amazing energy every Monday. – Deanna

You make Monday great! Philip

Happy birthday! You are the best! Thank you for showing up for us every week! We so appreciate you! Drink up and enjoy! – Kristyn

We love your vibe!

Happy birthday ya legend!!!! Rock on. Dave

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And a huge, huge thanks to my husband and partner in crime for all of these happy hours we’ve had over the year. He does a tremendous amount of work:

• Keeping our yard and house looking stellar
• Coming up with the slogans and making the signs each week
• Preparing (making most of it!) the food
• Helping with everything that’s going on inside the house leading up to, and during, these events

He truly is the wind beneath my wings!