March 27: 2pm Central
March 28: 2pm and 8pm Central

On Christmas day, I was at a gathering with my mother's extended family.  I was playing around with one of my cousin's kids, and he started throwing clementine oranges at me.  I waited until I had accumulated five, and then started juggling.

Being around other jugglers in Nashville fairly regularly, I forgot that juggling five objects is a pretty impressive feat to most people.  Everyone gathered around and took pictures while I juggled the fruits.  I think my uncle was disappointed to learn that he was no longer the best juggler in the family... :)

photo by fragglerawker

Last month, I joggled a 5k in Nashville, TN along with six other jogglers and some non-joggling friends.  We were running the Komen Race for the Cure, which raises money for breast cancer awareness and research.  My friend Jacob organized our team called, "Juggling for Jugs".  He joggled this race last year, but none of the rest of us had ever joggled before.

I have never run any race before, and was both excited and nervous.  Not being much of a runner, my goal was to be able to joggle the race without having to walk.  Up until the day of the race, I had only run 2-2.5 miles straight.  People told me I would have extra adrenaline on race day, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough for an extra half mile.  Regarding the joggling, I had been closely following and reading Perry's Just Your Average Joggler blog.  His Joggling Etiquette Articles were very helpful to know what to expect on race day.  Our team met at the Vanderbilt track to practice joggling the week before the race.

We lined up towards the back of the runners.  I didn't realize how big this race was going to be!  There were over 10,000 participants, and it took us a little while to get to the starting line.  Once we got to the starting line, there were still a lot of "runners" starting the race out walking.  It was quite a challenge navigating through the crowds, and I dropped quite a few times, not able to find my rhythm.  But once things cleared out, I was able to relax and find my pace.

The combination of a new course (I had been mostly running the same course in my neighborhood the month before), the crowd of other runners, and being able to focus on juggling made the race go by very quickly.  I reached the first water station at the mile mark, and couldn't believe I had already gone a mile!  There were lots of "I can't believe this guy is passing me while juggling!" comments along the way.  Around the second mile marker, I caught up with a friend I recognized earlier from college.  I had some conversations with other runners, but realized that it caused me to drop, so I eventually kept the talking to a minimum as I neared the end of the race. 

There was an uphill stretch that I wasn't expecting about half a mile from the end.  Luckily, I had enough energy left and made it over the hill.  Some friends of mine that came to watch the race were waiting a few blocks before the finish.  I smiled (I couldn't risk a wave!), and then raced for the finish line.  I attempted to throw one ball high over the finish line and catch it, but I ended up dropping as I crossed!  I don't remember my exact time... I think it was around 34 minutes.  I was just excited to have finished the race without any walking.

Having completed my first joggling race (and first race in general), I'm looking forward to more joggling!  Next time, I hope to focus more on not dropping and my overall speed.  Reading race accounts of marathon joggling has been both inspiring and intimidating.  I hope that my beginner's account of joggling a 5k will encourage any brand new jogglers out there.

I started a joggling Flickr group, where you can see some pictures from our race and other jogglers on Flickr.  If you use Flickr, please join the group and add photos!

Photos by Steven Cheng

I was in Chapel Hill, NC visiting a friend working on her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina this past weekend.  We were walking around the UNC campus on Sunday (coincidentally at the same time the Vanderbilt Juggling Club was meeting) and I noticed some jugglers passing clubs in the distance.  I walked over and introduced myself, picked up three clubs, and began passing with them.  For about 10 minutes, I felt like I was at home, even though I was over 500 miles away.

When I was in elementary school, I taught myself to juggle three balls.  It was fun learning things on my own, but it wasn't until my junior year in college when Tom (where are you now?!) taught me to pass clubs that I realized the social aspect of juggling.  Since then, I've had the joy of juggling in and around Nashville, meeting new people, teaching people to juggle, and learning new things from other jugglers.

Jugglers, don't isolate yourselves!

Up until now, I've had to let them down and reveal that the coolest thing I can do is probably just juggle five balls or (attempt to) pass seven clubs.  (It's hard to impress someone verbally with devil sticks.)

That's, right.  I said, until now.  A couple weeks ago, Jacob ordered some Dubé juggling knives, and I got to juggle them.  It took a while to get used to, but before long, I was outside my office in Hillsboro village juggling knives while drivers stuck in traffic on 21st Avenue looked on.

It amazes me that the mere possibility of me injuring myself exponentially increases the entertainment value of essentially juggling a 3-club cascade.

On a related note, some of us have been practicing our joggling for the Komen Race for the Cure 5k this Saturday.  In this case, it's not the potential for bodily harm, but the shear absurdity of the activity that draws people in.  A group of five of us joggling on the Vanderbilt track caused many of the fellow runners to stop, stare, and occasionally cheer.  If you're going to be downtown Saturday, look out for the jogglers (and a hula-hooper) amidst the sea of runners.

Left: photo by Matt Mikulla;   Right: photo by Jacob Weiss

I've been juggling outside in Dragon Park and Centennial Park a lot this summer.  Quite often, kids will come up to us and want to learn to juggle.  Less often will adults try to learn, perhaps because they think they are too old to learn.  I've always said that anyone can learn to juggle, and this study supports this claim.  If you see any of us juggling around town, we're always willing to teach!^*

^*The views expressed in this blog post are only of the author :)

From The Journal of Neuroscience: Training-Induced Brain Structure Changes in the Elderly (full text requires subscription)
From News 2 (WKRN - ABC): Aging Brain Can Learn New Tricks

In addition to Dan, we also spotted a brief shot of Fiona from Hooprama (and star of Juggleville 3!) at one of the auditions.  The Nashville Juggling community is making its rounds on national TV!

From NBC: Watch the death defying act that the The Hoff couldn't handle

This site is all about bringing together jugglers (and other related skills and arts) in the Middle Tennessee area.  This summer has been a great one for juggling in and around Nashville!  Take a look around the events and directory.  If you'd like to be listed, please contact the appropriate email addresses found in each section.

photo by Jacob Weiss