Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee waves to supporters, while his wife Janet, left, looks on as they leave the Cornerstone Family Church following services Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. Huckabee has surged to the top of the polls in Iowa with less than a week before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Play of the Day: Huckabee's run
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee waves to supporters, while his wife Janet, left, looks on as they leave the Cornerstone Family Church following services Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. Huckabee has surged to the top of the polls in Iowa with less than a week before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
DES MOINES, Iowa—For Mike Huckabee, campaign activities took a back seat Monday to training for the Boston Marathon.
Despite a temperature of 16 degrees, the Republican presidential candidate set off around a lake for a 30-minute run that covered about three miles.
"This really is insane, isn't it?" said Huckabee, wearing running gear in the University of Iowa's black-and-gold color scheme.
"I go in freezing weather, but it's never this cold in Little Rock, so you know this is as cold as I probably will have run in," the former Arkansas governor said.
Before beginning his jaunt, Huckabee asked his running companions, "Are we sure this path is clear, that there's not ice patches on it? Cause 'Slip Sliding Away,' it's a great song, but it's not a good campaign theme."
Of course, being in Iowa, candidates aren't immune from campaign questions even on frigid runs.
Just as he was hitting the trail, the manager of a halfway house asked Huckabee about prisoner rehabilitation.
"One of the reasons I get into a whole lot of trouble is because I do believe that you don't just keep punishing people forever," responded Huckabee, whose record on pardons has been criticized by some of his rivals.
Huckabee said the reason to punish should be to correct.
"We lock up a lot of people that we're mad at, not the ones we're really afraid of," he said. "And we ought to lock up the ones we're afraid of, but the ones we're just mad at we might find better ways" of correcting them.
The man told Huckabee: "If you're going to continue on that path, you've got my vote."
Later Monday, the media recorded all as Huckabee sat for a haircut, and shave with a straight razor, at the Executive Forum Barbership.
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Compiled by Amy Lorentzen
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