Six PAX gathered at Kenan Stadium at the break of dawn on Memorial Day with one laser focus: Cram as much work and test the aerobic and muscular systems into 45 minutes as possible.

            To wit (after a warm-up of SSH x 20, windmills x 10, squats x 10, air circles forward and back x 10, merkins x 10), we moseyed into Kenan Stadium, where the field is totally chopped up with the ongoing conversion from Bermuda grass to synthetic grass …  but the ancient steps remain unfettered.

            For 20 minutes we ran the stairs with two burpees at the top, each PAX essentially completing one revolution of the 12 aisles on the north side.

            Then we set up on the concourse at the base of a staircase to the upper deck where there was plenty of railing with about three feet of room underneath to crawl under and do rows. We executed 12 tabata intervals of 20 seconds of rows and then 20 seconds of merkins, alternating grips on the rows and hand positions on the merkins.

            From there we moseyed to the wooden benches outside the Blue Zone for more tabatas—20 seconds each of dips, one-leg lunges on the right and then left legs, three circuits total.

            That left exactly Six Minutes of Mary—LBCs, flutters, Nolan Ryans, Parker Peters, bows-to-toes planks and one other YHC cannot recall.

            It was a perfect start to Memorial Day.

            “As we express our gratitude we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy