Hello All:
Just gave the site a quick read and noticed some points of interest.  Apparently, a group of folks are headed to Hadrian's Wall in England.  I'm a bit green with envy as I visited Hadrian's Wall about 14 years ago.  The portion I saw was located in a beautiful part of England was so green you thought you were in Ireland!  For those who have never been to England I think they'll find the Brits a very warm and hospitable host.  I encourage them to interact openly.  Boy, are they going to have fun on that trip.  
A hearty Congrats to Tony Panizza for winning his age group in Coeur d'Alene.  I was signed up for that but got sent here so next time.  Anyway, I expect I would have been looking at the bottom of Tony's shoes!
I also noticed that it's the season for the Airport Run.  One day I'm going to do that run.
Anyway, speaking of running my old injuries seem to have subsided so I've begun training for the Dubai Marathon in January.  Have a bit of a ways to go but working on a decent base now and more meaningful runs to come.  
As for Saudi, the heat is getting less oppressive and more conducive to running.  I'd say it is down to 100 degrees from 120. Work plodding along.  This morning I have 2 Air Force C-17's coming in - stuff in, stuff out!  I've made a couple of trips to Jeddah on the Red Sea and Dhahran over towards the Gulf.  Those two cities are a bit less conservative than Riyadh so women don't always cover their faces but abayas a most for them anywhere.  Not much else to do here unless you like the souks (markets) where you buy gold, carpets and wooden crafts. If you like to haggle it is heaven, I guess.  My tour is supposed to end in Feb so I'm just over the half-way mark.  
Hope all is well.  Keep up the mileage!
Pete    

All is well here in Riyadh.  At least we don't make the headlines. I know I'm photogenic and all but I'll save it for a rainy day! The embassy is located on the fringe of the city in a section known as the Diplomatic Quarter.  Next door are our friends in the Turkish Embassy and further down the road the Kuwaitis.  Anyway, it is a heavily protected compound both with armed guards and concrete barriers.  So it is fairly safe.  Nonetheless, we are encouraged to vary our routes to and from work as well as our times. There is very little to do on the compound except eat and socialize at Uncle Sam's, a little eatery in the embassy.  Oh - and work out.  I have lost 10 pounds since arriving 22 Feb and I have run all of 3 times (bad calf).  So I go to the gym, swim and ride a mountain bike.  Periodically, there is a function in one of the embassies so I intend on taking in a performance now and then.  The threat level is considered moderate yet we are permitted to go off the compound and eat out or shop at the grocery store or the local souks (markets).  The two commodities that are real popular are jewelry (gold) and carpets from all over the Middle East including Iran, the "Stans" and India mostly.  Riyadh has a lot of western companies most notably, you guessed it, MacDonald's and Pizza Hut - and the Saudis are getting fat just like many of our own countrymen.  From a cultural point of view this place is a real downer for western women.  All women are required to wear abayas (dark robes) both on and off the compound.  To break this rule off of the compound means arrest and no one will give a hoot about your diplomatic status.  Nonetheless, many are used to the shortcomings/limitations that overseas life can present and it doesn't seem to faze them in the least.  Anyway, Saudi women are especially conservative, frequently wearing a mask - or are they just playing hard to get!?   Meeting the Saudis on a semi-regular basis I find them hospitable enough or at least tolerant of Americans (me).  They'll offer you tea and dates no matter how rushed you are.  Assuming they are genuine I guess that's a good thing.  However, who knows what lies deep down.  As for you guys, I expect you are plodding the streets of Reston among other places.  I really miss running and have just gotten an MRI done - will get it read next week sometime.  Well, that's all for now.  Keep racking up the mileage - I'll be on the sidelines this year cheering you on!

Enshallah!

Pete [Ed. note: Pete can be reached at  WillisPM@state.gov  ]