Every year, Oak Cliff holds a weekend of Mardi Gras festivities, kicking off with a 5K run called Dash for the Beads. Participants (including canines) are encouraged to dress up in their best wacky Mardi Gras costume attire for a chance to win bragging rights and a medal at the event. This year's beneficiary of the race was FIDO Oak Cliff, who's objective is to develop the first dog park in Oak Cliff.
I was invited to be a "celebrity judge" at this year's event and when I asked them who else was participating, they said, "Um, we're working on that." I laughed and said, "Listen, if I'm the best you can do... then you clearly need help!" So I whipped out my trusty Rolodex and enlisted my pals, Chef Monica Greene who owns BEE: Best Enchiladas Ever and Monica's Aca y Alla and Jane McGarry from NBC DFW to help me.
I woke up at 4AM on Saturday to the sound of rain. I cringed inwardly, becasue I knew the race would NOT be called off on account of weather. Runners are crazy people. They will run in sleet, snow, rain, hail... They're like Honey Badgers - they don't care! I went back to sleep for a couple of hours, then rolled out of bed and made it to Oak Cliff by my designated 8AM call time. About 8:30 it stopped raining and we ended up having a LOT of fun. There were about 200+ people who turned out for the race and many of them dressed to impress. I am featuring some of the winners in this post so you can see the great costumes. You can see all the photos on Facebook.
As those crazy Cajuns say, "Les bon temps roule!"