Da do ron ron? Or da doo ron not?

I thought about it Sunday

But my feet stood still.

Day do not run.

Day do not run.

They never ran a road race

And they never will.

Day do not run.

No, day do not run.

Rather than run tomorrow, I am taking the day to drink it over and to recall what little interest or connection I have ever had with the Boston Marathon.

For starters, I did go to Wesleyan with two guys who won that most prestigious of running events. (I know. Everything has its own "prestigious event.") Amby Burfoot won the thing in 1968, and Bill Rodgers won it four times (and twice broke the record). Yawn. Bill lived a floor or two above me in Clark Hall. Double yawn.

And then there's Johnny Kelley, the bow-legged guy who ran the damn thing 61(!) times and won it twice. His obit in the Boston Globe recounts that he finished second "a record seven times" and placed in the top ten for 18 of his runs to Boston. The same piece goes on to say: "Kelley was a Boston sports hero in the mold of Ted Williams, Bill Russell, Larry Bird and Bobby Orr, but of that illustrious group the only one home grown and the only amateur. He ran perhaps 1,500 races, including 112 marathons, and won 22 diamond rings, 118 watches, one refrigerator and no money."

During a running of the Johnny Kelley Half-Marathon in Hyannis one year, I was riding in the back of an open pace Jeep with Johnny so close behind that I could hear him swearing at us to get out of his way. Apparently, the exhaust fumes were driving him nuts, but there's nothing the driver could do about that. Johnny's only choice was to suck it up or to drop back in the pack. Needless to say, he sucked it up and sputtered at me for most of the 13 miles. Cough!

Johnny's buried out at the Quivet Neck Cemetery, so I'm thinking of stopping by tomorrow to pay my respects and to offer my belated apologies. Then, again, I wasn't the driver or the race coordinator.

Good excuse head over to the Lost Dog in East Dennis afterward to hoist one in his honor. Beats watching the damn thing on TV. Wanna bet what the so-called "lead story" will be among Boston broadcasters tomorrow? Think they'll each be wearing some cheesey windbreaker with the station's logo? Better make that TWO beers.