Sunday Morning Surprise

As I was heading off to the gym this morning, I considered bringing my camera.  But usually there's absolutely nothing to photograph.  Very little goes on at Westlake at 8:00 on a Sunday.  Sure, there are a few crazy people wandering around, jabbering strange things and a handful of sane people waiting for buses, but generally nothing outside of the morning calm of a mid-sized city.  Not this morning.  Nosiree.  I saw quite a few people in both running and yuletide gear as I approached, but once I hit Westlake, this was the scene:

Once again, pardon the cell photos.  I didn't expect to see thousands of people at Westlake early on a rainy/dreary Sunday morning, but there they were - all decked out and more or less ready for the Jingle Bell Run.  There were many Santa hats and quite a few women wearing tutus - I have no idea how that relates to Christmas - and, of course, thousands of bells.  And to be sure, a great gathering requires great toilet facilities.  Here they are:

Impressive.  After my version of exercise was over, I had to make my way through the crowd.  It was nearly impossible.  I had no idea whether the race had already been run or which of the jinglefolk had won.  It was chaos.  Still, it's nice to see that many people gathered in the middle of one's city.  Just think of all the people who got up, looked outside and went back to bed.