Chatter: Ashley to Dario, “Let Me Drive!”
Earlier this spring, listeners of NPR’s weekly Car Talk radio program got a surprise glimpse into the married lives of actress Ashley Judd and two-time Indy 500 champ Dario Franchitti.
Country-music siren Martina McBride will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during pre-race ceremonies at the Indianapolis 500 on May 27. Most likely she will belt out the performance, much like we expected Kelly Clarkson to do at the Super Bowl here instead of offering this rather restrained take.
He is an Indianapolis native, reality TV star, and all of 24 years old now. As a New York–based model, Austin Armacost once infamously dated fashion designer Marc Jacobs. Boys become men, but this one did so on camera, for the world to see. He’s one of the hedonistic stars of The A List: New York, a self-descriptive, loud and rowdy program on the LOGO channel following the lives of six gay and bisexual men in New York City. The show is produced by the Manhattan-based True Entertainment, also responsible for the like-minded Real Housewives of Atlanta. It is now appearing on UK and European TV.
The 500 Festival Mini-Marathon came and went (quickly!) this past Saturday, May 5. Runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers took to the city’s downtown and near-westside streets, pounding the ground for competition, for personal health, for charity, and with the intent, for some, of clocking personal-best times.
Imagine if you will: It’s Friday, and you’ve just finished lunch. You step outside; the sun is shining, and a gentle breeze tousles your hair. You don’t want to go back to the office, so you decide to play hooky and while away the rest of the afternoon at the track. It’s a May tradition as true as Mother’s Day.
Since I ran the inaugural Indiana University Mini-Marathon on my 25th birthday in 2006, I have been slightly obsessed with half-marathons, and road races of all distances. I have now run three Indy Minis, as well as innumerable 5-milers and 5Ks, including the 2007 Indy Mini Day’s 5K, that just three and a half months after I was in a fairly serious car wreck.
