Sarah Palin runs... in Storm Lake, Iowa

One hour, 46 minutes and 10 seconds
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Emily Price of Des Moines television station KCCI reports that Gov. Palin surprised more than a few people Sunday by running in the Storm Lake Running Club's "Jump Right In And Run" half-marathon:

Palin finished an impressive second place in her age group. She finished the 13.1 mile run in one hour, 46 minutes and 10 seconds, online records show.

Grace Ivey, the marathon's co-director, said Palin's voice at the finish line gave her away. Ivey reported that Palin said, "Boy that was fun," as she finished her run.

It was only then that Ivey realized who the runner was. Ivey was there Saturday night as a man picked up Palin's running packet. Palin registered under her maiden name, Heath. Later, Ivey realized the man picking up the packet was Palin's husband, Todd.

One of those people surprised by the stealth entry of "Sarah Heath" in the running event was Iowans 4 Palin's Teledude, who posted that his wife, who was also entered in the event, called him early Sunday morning to inform him that the governor was in their hometown:

Needless to say I jumped out of bed and got down by the lake in time to wait along with Todd for Sarah to finish the half marathon (she had a very good time) ...Todd said, 'Yeah, she's fast."

[...]

After speaking with them for a while I let them go sort of mingle with others, I didn't want be a pest after all, but before they left they came back over to me and my wife, thanked us again and said they were so happy to meet us, then stood for a quick picture.

Only as they were leaving did a few people start to notice who they were. Most had no clue.

This was not a campaign event, this was some personal time for Governor Palin to get in a good run in a beautiful setting and they didn't want anyone to even know they had slipped in. Very low profile. Amazing they can pull this off.

But to the people who did recognize her, she was as gracious and friendly as one could be. You can just tell she loves people, is very sincerely interested in learning about you and what's going on in the area.

More from the LA Times' Robin Abcarian here.

The Des Moines Register reported that the Storm Lake Running Club's webmaster confirmed Gov. Palin's participation in the event:


After the event, the Palins headed to New Hampshire for a Labor Day TEA Party event where Gov. Palin will be speaking. One would think that would be the end of the story, but that's only if one lives in the real world, according to M. Joseph Sheppard:

The crazies at the crazy blog "Immoral Minority" are posting post after post saying that... Palin faked her run in the Iowa marathon.

Crazies? That would explain what appears to be a collectivist epidemic of long-term Palin Derangement Syndrome among left wing Alaskan bloggers, especially given reports by local media, photographic evidence and eyewitness reports that Sarah Palin did indeed complete the event. However, after watching the anti-Palin blogging cabal operate for years now, another explanation comes to mind. These people make their living by attacking Gov. Palin, and to earn their pay they have to bear a considerable amount of false witness against her. We're not sure exactly what front group is paying them to make such fools out of themselves, but it's a dark political oppo project.

Oh, there was some of this sort of nonsense going on before the governor became John McCain's running mate. But it really started getting well organized within hours after McCain introduced her to the nation in Ohio. After the 2008 campaign, when Gov. Palin had returned to Alaska and talk began about a possible 2012 presidential candidacy by the governor, the anti-Palin effort shifted into high gear. This is how the left plays the political game. Call them crazy if you want, but doing so is to dismiss the true meanness of what they are up to. Think about it. Why else would they willingly prove themselves to be serial liars? It's because these clowns couldn't get honest work if their lives depended on it. But they sure managed to find dishonest work.

- JP