From the City of Love to the City of Penguins, it's been an exciting week for the Carnival

I begin this post by thanking Derek Rose with The Carnival of Runners for allowing me to host this week.

And what a week it's been.

Simbas Mom just completed a half-marathon and she now owns her very own Penguin Medal, which she hasn't taken off yet (except to shower.) And while Simbas Mom had an excellent race to report, we can't say the same about A.Maria who ran her first 5K on Friday night. Her time and running went well despite a disorganized race with two conflicting start times and the Asthma victim who selected her to run beside. Between hunting down safety pins for her bib and feeling compelled to cheer on the girl next to her, this race report is not one to miss.

Speaking of first races, Sasha has another great first 5K story to tell. In other races, Lara ran up a giant hill in a 10K and Dawn reported on the a run with a funny name! (Who wouldn't run downhill for donut?)

And, this week, our friend,Running Chick , shared some great photos of her recent tri event!

Meanwhile, after attending a marathon to watch his sister, Jonathan made some changes to his blog and announced he will not be running in the New York Marathon. He's taking on a more personal challenge of sticking with a regular running schedule while attending law school in California. We wish Jonathan the best at law school and commend him on making an exciting new career change in addition to his new running goals.

Speaking of changes to blogs, one exciting change is that after a brief hiatus from her blog, Naomes at 26.2 miles vs. Naomi is Out of Africa! Be sure to visit her blog for an adorable photo, recaps of her trips and of course, the running reports.

In other travels, my colleague just returned from Paris where he was able to experience running in the City of Love.

A new member of the RBF family launched her blog this week and is looking forward to her travels to Vegas to scope out the route for her upcoming marathon.

Jeanne may have missed the group picture, but she fell in love with long runs this week on her first 18-mile run! Go Jeanne!

Riona may be injured right now, but she's still inspiring us with great testimonials. With her attitude, she'll be back in no time.

Speaking of injuries, if you are brave and want to look, Brent shared a photo of his toenail but I confess, I can't look. Also, Flatman's been having some troubles with his knees, but they didn't stop him from having a magical ride on Saturday.

Mark's not injured. He's not even close. In fact, he has officially declared himself a barefoot runner.

And that, my friends, wraps up my week at the Carnival. Please feel free to e-mail me if I have left you out. I'll get you right in! Have a wonderful week of training/raceing to all!