I brought my camera with me during my 13.1 mile run down the Vegas Strip. I only looked at my watch a few times, and surprised myself by finishing in 2:13.50. It’s not a personal best, but this was one of THE BEST races… ever!

I dressed as Elvis, complete with sun glasses and side burns. But I failed to account for the cold December Vegas weather: temperatures in the low 30s. And I wore shorts.

Luckily, I packed a white wind breaker and wore it under my costume. It helped, but I certainly was not warm.

I left Patrick near the starting line so I could find the Running Elvi. We were all supposed to run together. But I could never find an organized group. The only regret I have during this race is not being at the starting line with Patrick.

I finally found a place near some Elvi with strollers featuring pictures and music of the King. I enjoyed listening to the tunes and I must have completely missed hearing Cher sing the Star Spangled Banner (bummer– I love Cher!). Soon, we crossed the start line where a band played and old-time show girls stood near large cages with two white tigers. Awesome!

My fifth race of 2009 is less than a week away and what better place for my finale run than Vegas?!?!? And I’ll be running as Elvis along with (likely) hundreds of runners. Together, we’ll make up the “running Elvi.” Here’s some questions I answered while entering the Running Elvi Group:

We’re not watching TV like we used to– especially since we got TiVo and Hulu. Advertisers are looking for other ways to make money, like targeting us on our laptops and iPhones. But so far, their attempts to make money online haven’t worked. Why?

I came across this tweet from @ChrisAbraham a few days ago: “New blog post: An epiphany about epiphanies”

I clicked on the link and watched the video from Epipheo on YouTube. I was amazed. It demonstrates why advertisers are having trouble reaching the same audience that so willingly sat in front of the glowing box, hanging on every word. It’s obvious we’ve changed. We expect more from advertisers. And if it doesn’t make something easier, faster, better, simpler, smarter, or stronger… well, we don’t care.

What if your house was deemed an illegal dumping site? While working at WSIL in Southern Illinois, I covered a story about a lady who collected so much junk, it spilled onto the main road. When the county wanted to expand the road, they had to move her out. She received $64,000 for property that failed to include indoor plumbing (she would use an out house), and to re-locate.

I tried walking around the property. It was difficult and hazardous. On one hand, it was someone’s home. On the other, it’s a dump site– even if it was junk dumped there by one person.

She was a hoarder. At the time, I didn’t know it and I certainly didn’t understand. Today, I watched three episodes of A&E’s program “Hoarders.” The show begins with this definition: “Compulsive Hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and keep things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous or unsanitary.”

He’s being called “Balloon Boy.” But did 6-year-old Falcon really hide from his parents– or did his parents tell him to hide? Cameras were fixated on a home-made balloon that everyone thought would cause the boy’s death. But he was found hiding in the attic hours later. Then, on the Larry King Show, the little boy mentioned doing it for the show. What show? The family is scheduled to be on the 100th episode of Wife Swap. Could this whole saga be a PR stunt?

Hoax or not, it got me thinking about other well-known stunts. Here’s my top 5:

When I met Patrick six years ago, we both had iPaqs. On that first day, we beamed each other our personal information. Soon, we were sneaking out to lunch together, instant messaging, and talking on the phone. One of our first conversations lasted more than eight hours. We stayed up all night chatting.

Three months into our relationship, I knew he was the one and I was ready to marry him…