Oil Creek 100- the long DNF

 Everything I stated about the upcoming race in my preview turned out to be right. Beautiful area, great trail, wonderful aid stations and volunteers and flawless directing. The weather was just as predicted although there was more rain than I had hoped for (more on that later) but unfortunately I didn't quite make it to the finish line.

  We started in the cold and darkness at 5am. It was about 27 to 28F but calm and it didn't feel bad. I knew I would be warming up quickly so I was just wearing shorts and a jacket. The first 1.5 miles of each loop was on pavement along streets and a bike path so we were able to get in a little smooth running to warm up before making a sharp turn and up the hill onto the single track Gerard hiking trail.

  It was slow going for those first miles in the dark but I was in no hurry so I wasn't trying to pass anyone for awhile but after about three miles I was stuck behind a very slow group so I finally made my way around. I was already noticing that the trail was very narrow in a lot of places so there was no going around the rocks or roots. you just had to go over all of them. Tripping and falling would not be recommended on a big part of this trail so I was still taking my time and only running in the safest spots.

  The first aid station has a long descent that begins as a sweet runnable downhill but then hits a pretty treacherously steep   and rocky section. I eased my way through that part and then the trail flattens out along Wolfkiel Run, past some spooks and into the aid station. I was in and out quickly and once leaving, the course begins the steepest, nastiest climb, Switchback Mountain. It's so steep that I was on my toes nearly the whole climb but the good thing is that it is not very long taking only about 10 minutes to climb. It's just as steep going down the backside making it a little tricky and rough on the quads.

  The next several miles had a lot of runnable sections and the sun was beginning to rise revealing some lovely views of Oil Creek down in the valley. It was nice to be able to turn out the light and enjoy the beautiful trail. Even in the daytime I had to be careful because there were a  lot of leaves covering the ground.  This section of the course was one of the more interesting with a neat rocky area to go through and a lot of evidence of the historic oil industry. Lots of pipes still running along the ground as well as old pumps and falling down buildings and other structures. About a mile from aid station two at Petroleum Center we ran by and under the replica derricks at the Benninghoff Farm and then had a sweet downhill to a road into the aid station. Everything was still covered in frost as we ran through the valley but I was feeling nice and warm and running well.

  Quickly in and out of the aids station again and like all the others the next section began with a climb out of the valley and back into the hills. After climbing for awhile the trail expanded for awhile with some nice double track that was nice and runnable for a couple for miles before narrowing down to some more single track. This was the longest section and about halfway through we passed through a Boy Scout Camp and the smell of their breakfast over open fires brought back memories of Autumn camping trips of my youth. Some nice running leaving there but further along was a tricky section. Some mud and rocks and narrow. Seems like this was one of those places that is a drainage and probably stays wet just about all the time. After a mile though is another long climb followed by a sweet downhill to aid station 3.

  Happy to see some candy corn there and once again I was out quickly and up yet another climb. The first short steep climb was followed by another longer climb, Rockefeller's Revenge. Several more miles of rolling single track and finally we dropped down to the valley once again for a one mile loop around the Drake Oil Well Museum. This was very flat on the road and then a grassy path on the backside along the creek. I was running and feeling great here and after the loop we got back on the bike path for a 1.2 mile return to the school.  I had hoped to finish the first 50k lap in 7:30 to 8:00 and I was right about 7:35 and feeling great. I sent off a quick text to some family and friends that I was on pace, feeling good and the trail was awesome. I was really enjoying myself as the race was proving to be everything I had hoped for.

  I was looking forward to seeing the next section for the first time in daylight and ran all of the greenway back to the trail. Once I got there I could see why it felt so slow in the dark. It is rocky, rooty and very narrow on the side of the hill. I was hoping to be a little faster since I could actually see where I was going but I still had to be careful and although I was feeling good I still had just completed a tough 50k and was a little bit slower. As I came down the Wolfkiel descent the second time I was trying to pick a good line through the rocky section knowing I would have to come back through one more time in the dark. It didn't look quite as hairy in the light but still not a place to let your concentration slip.

  I was out quickly again and began the 2nd ascent of Switchback Mountain and this time my quads were starting to talk to me. My energy level was fine but I was already becoming aware of the beating this course was giving my legs.  The remainder of the this second loop passed without much incidence other than a tumble along of course one of the smoothest sections. No harm but it did temporarily knock the wind out of me so I got up slowly and walked it off and was soon back to normal with only a few tiny scratches.

  My pace through aid station 2 and 3 were pretty good but as I started section 4 my quads were beginning to scream at me. The sun was beginning to get low in the sky and I knew I would be running the last half of this section in the dark. And then I heard some raindrops. It was only 8pm and the forecast I had seen said it was only suppose to start around 11 and then only a slight chance. It was in the 50's now and had been gorgeous afternoon but now the night wasn't looking so good.

  I was lucky that it just sprinkled and a little light rain off and on and I wasn't even getting wet and as I hit the valley floor for the next loop around the museum the rain had stopped. Maybe I would get lucky and that was all the rain we would get. I looked up into the early night sky hoping to see some stars but no luck and then just as I was about 1/2 mile from the school it started raining hard.  I was hoping to have made it to the school to get a jacket but now I was soaking wet so I had to go inside and change into a dry shirt. I sent out another text that I was on pace (actually dead on 17:00 for 100k which was my plan) but my quads were trashed and it was raining. Going to be a long night.

  I took a little more time before heading out into the night once again but luckily it had stopped raining as I headed out onto the streets and bike path back to the trail. My legs were very stiff and sore and the stride was not very pretty I'm sure as I plodded along.  Things were a bit trickier on the trail now with the rain making the leaves , rocks and roots very slick so I was having to be extra careful. I was now having a lot of trouble going down the hills as I had used up all the muscles I needed to absorb the shock plus having to be careful and not fall with the slickness. I found I was actually preferring going uphill now and I was truly dreading the Wolfkeil descent this last time.

   As I approached the steep rocky section I was creeping along very gingerly and just as I thought  I had made it safely through my feet slipped out from under me on a dining room table sized rock as if I was on ice. I landed hard on my upper back and let out a yelp and then lay there stunned for a moment while I tried to collect myself. Luckily my head had snapped back off the edge of the rock so I didn't bust my skull open. I very slowly got up and made my way into the aid station where I sat down for a few minutes and ate some potato soup.

  The last climb up Switchback Mountain was slow and painful as my back was now very tight and sore from the fall. Breathing was hurting it so I was trying to walk and massage it the best I could to try and loosen it up. The trip down the backside was very slick and and I was barely creeping down and my quads were screaming at me. Needless to say my mood was not quite as bright as it has been earlier in the race. And then the rain started again. And it was raining pretty hard. And it would continue for the next 2.5 hours. Fortunately the back finally loosened up  after about an  hour and would not be an issue again but now I was getting drenched and with the slower pace it was hard to stay warm.

  I tried to run as much as possible but by now my quads were so trashed I could only run for about 30 seconds which was frustrating because otherwise I was  still feeling pretty good. My energy level was ok and my stomach was happy so that I  could eat and drink as needed. Luckily the temperature was staying in the 50's or I would have really been struggling to stay warm as the rain was going down the collar of my vest and soaking me. It was a welcome sight as I passed through the Benninghoff Farm again knowing it was downhill for a mile and a warm aid station and dry clothes awaited me. More frustrating that I could not run much once I hit the road down in the valley.

  I made it to the aid station and immediately removed the wet vest and shirt and while I was getting into a dry shirt and jacket I asked the volunteer for some noodles and a trash bag. I changed batteries in my light and then sat down to eat the noodles and things begin to turn ugly. My legs were throbbing  and I begin to shake uncontrollably, hardly able to get the spoon to my mouth to eat. The EMT on hand was keeping a close eye on me and my body was trying to tell my mind that I could just stop here and that made me mad.  Although I was moving slow, I still felt I had plenty of time to finish if I just kept moving so before any more doubts could creep in, I slowly stood up, grabbed my water belt and headed back out into the darkness.

  Yay ! The rain had stopped !  Now if would just stay stopped the rest of the night would be very comfortable.  I made the next long climb and reached the usually nice runnable doubletrack section but even though I was now warm and the energy was good I just couldn't run more than 5 or 6 halting steps on the dead stumps that used to be my quads. Well not really dead because they hurt too much to be dead. So I tried to powerwalk as much and as fast as I could, run a few steps and repeat.

  I made it through the sleeping Boy Scout camp just before dawn and was thinking I was close to the sign that said it was about 2.7 miles to the next aid station. I was slow but still under the cut-off. I continued on for a long time and never saw the sign so I thought I must have missed it and I   should probably be about a mile away since I was about 2:50:00ish since leaving aid station 2. And then there it was. Another climb up Ida Tarbells Wrath  and the sign. My heart just sunk at that point. I could not believe I had actually been moving that slow. 30 minute miles since leaving the last checkpoint? I knew then my race was over but I still tried to move as quickly as my legs would go.

   Three runners went by me but I had nothing  left to try and stay with them. ( Only one of them would finish and he was the last finisher but he was running well when he went by me) About a mile to go I heard some folks coming up quickly behind me and sure enough it was the Grim Reapers, aka the trail sweeps. One stayed with me while the others went ahead and we had a nice conversation as we walked it in to aid station 3 dead on the cut-off.

  I sat down and the terrific volunteers there started tending to me, covering me in blankets, moving a gas heater nearby and bringing me pancakes and coffee while others began packing things up. I can't say enough about how wonderful the running community is in this area. Very much like our Umstead and MTC family here in NC.

  So that's how it went. Being a DNf and missing my buckle is disappointing but in this case I don't feel too bad about it. I gave it 100% effort, I didn't do anything stupid to screw up my race and there is nothing I could have done that day to change the outcome so I am satisfied with the 84.5 miles I was able to cover.

  As I look back now the only thing that might have given me a chance on finishing would have been to alter my training a bit in the 6 weeks leading up to the race. Normally before a big event I try to do more race specific training which for this would have been a lot of single track training on steep hills but I didn't do that.
 Most of my races and training this year have been for road events and most of my mileage has been on the greenways. I have put in a lot of solid miles of training and was hoping just my fitness would get me to my goal but I was wrong. And looking ahead I really don't have any trail races on the schedule until a least April so I guess I'll stick to my current training.

 This is an awesome event and trail and I would encourage anyone to give it a shot. Even if you aren't up to 100 miles, the 100k has a very generous cut-off or the 50k gives you a chance to check out the whole loop.

 here is a link to the pics
 I took along the trail

Strike Oil or Move On ! Oil Creek 100 mile preview

  Back in 2000 or 2001, I took my younger son Jeremy with me on a vacation to Watkins Glen and Niagara Falls and on the return trip we spent a few days touring several sites in Pennsylvania to do some train-watching. Our first stop was to Titusville PA, to ride the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad.  We had a great time riding through the valley and enjoying the beautiful views of the rolling hills and the river. I noticed a few trails and a greenway and thought it would be a nice place to run. At that time I had not yet run an ultra and was doing more mountain biking, whitewater kayaking and triathlons. The thought that I would ever return to run a 100 mile trail race was about as likely that I would someday walk on the moon.

 The train stops at the Drake Oil Well Museum Park where the world's first oil well was drilled and we took the tour there and enjoyed learning the history of the beginning of the oil industry in the USA. 

 So, when I heard that they had begin holding the Oil Creel 100 back in 2009 I was hoping that I would someday be able to fit into my schedule and finally this year the time has come. Although this is not the toughest 100 I have done, this is not one to be taken lightly. The course  is 87% trail and 13% asphalt with a total elevation gain of about 17,700 ft. There are no long climbs like most of the true mountain ultras but countless ups and downs with some of the climbs about a mile long.There is a great course map on the website with the sections broken down with elevation charts.

  The course is 3 loops of 31.1 miles with a 7.7 mile coming home loop that saves a nasty 1/2 mile climb for about mile 97. The finishing rate has only been 60%, 55% and last year 50% with a 32 hour cut-off so that should give you an idea that it really is a tough course. I've have been feeling very good recently,  and seem to have recovered completely from the summer dog attack . It took about 6 weeks to get back to normal but the training has been going great since then. My #1 priority is to finish but as always I want to do my best so there will be no loly-gagging out there. I do hope to be able to come in under 30 hours. The weather looks like it is going to be very good. It is going to be really cold at the start, around 28F but by Noon it's suppose to warm up to the 50s and stay there the remainder of the weekend. There is a 20% chance of some rain late Saturday night but hopefully it won't and even if it does it isn't suppose to rain very much for very long.

 This is the race website. There is a link on the home page that will take you to a live webcast so you can track my progress if you like.  Last year they didn't start until aid station 3, around the 22.7 mile mark so don;t worry about getting up at the crack of dawn (;

  My number is 12

From all I've been able to gather the race is very well directed and gets great support from the local community and I am eager to get there and get this thing started !

Il Grande Esperimento-October update

  Recovery from the Badgerland 24 hr seems to be complete. Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to continue putting in good mileage weeks. I ended up the month of September with 274 which is a new personal best for miles run in a month. This included a couple of 20 milers with Karla, THE Marathon Princess. The first one was a bit tough and I faded badly trying to keep up with her on a warm muggy morning. Two weeks later (last weekend) I was able to run stronger on a bit cooler but still humid morning and we averaged 30 seconds a mile faster. I followed that up with walking 4.5 miles with Jenn and Amy at Hinson Lake and then ran another 9 miles so in a roundabout way I did 33.5.

  In addition, Amy and I have been able to stay on track with a couple of 10 milers and another tough session of max effort hill repeats.  She did 41.5 miles at Hinson Lake, so with her in recovery mode and me beginning my taper for Oil Creek 100 this week there won't be much in the way of "training" going on.  But after all , that's what the Grand Experiment is all about. Trying to get fast enough for a marathon pr while maintaining my ultra schedule at least through January. I still got in some tempo intervals this week and the mileage will end up being about 70% of what I had been doing. Next week I'll cut it down to about 50% before the race. Hopefully if things go well by the time I recover Amy will be ready to go back on schedule.

 Karla's comeback race is at OBX in 6 weeks and she is running strong. We have a couple of more runs planned before I head to Pennsylvania and she still has  a few weeks before she will begin her taper. I look forward to running that one with her.

 Stay Tuned for further updates.

5 years at Capital RunWalk

 Wow, it's almost hard to believe that this month marks the 5th anniversary of part-time job working at Capital RunWalk in Cameron Village. I had been a customer going back to the 90's ( The store opened in 1994) and I knew the owner, Mike Zimmerman through his support for many events with the NCRC over the years. I had talked to Mike about 6.5 years ago about a possible full time job when my regular job was in jeopardy due to a a company bankruptcy but things worked out so that I was hired by the new company that took over my accounts. Mike told me if I ever wanted to make some hours to just let him know. So five years ago, I was looking to fill some free time since I was getting off work around 1pm on average and I couldn't run ALL the time . Some extra money to finance my trips to races would be nice too so I called Mike and asked if the offer was still good.  He said he'd talk it over with the Management Team, Jon Baker and Matt Thomas and luckily they agreed I would be a good fit for the store with my work and running background.

   I soon found that just because it is a running specialty store doesn't mean that all the customers are runners but despite the usual issues in dealing with the public in a retail environment most of the customers are very good to work with. And although my job is to sell stuff, I still get to talk a lot of running. It is especially satisfying to talk to some beginners or someone training for their first half or even full marathon and they seem to truly appreciated the tips and encouragement as I answer their questions.

  One of the best things for me is having the opportunity to work there with some real quality young people. Most of the staff are either students or recent grads from area colleges, mostly NC State bit a few others. Most have run track and cross country on at least the high school level and right now we have 3 current members of the NC State team.  I have really been impressed with  these intelligent, highly motivated young people and I know their parents are very proud of them. And I am proud to consider them friends.

 It's been really cool to be able to work with Bobby Mack over about 4.5 of those 5 years years and watch his progression to the Elite level.  Bobby was an All American XC runner at State but when he came back to work with us he was in Grad School and recovering from injuries. It's been great to watch him go from wondering if his best running years were behind him to becoming the National XC Champion, 8k National Road Champion, achieve his goal for running a sub 4 mile and compete in the Olympic Trials at 10,000 meters among his many other accomplishments. I would take credit for this but I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Bobby has the fire within and loves running and has gotten great coaching over the years, mostly from Rollie Geiger at NC State.

  So I'm not going to do a commercial for the store but if you need running stuff there is no finer place to shop for it and if I'm not there anyone on the staff can give you great advice and service. I really didn't expect to be here this long but if they'll keep putting up with me I think I'll stick around for a few more years at least.

 Thanks to Mike, Jon and Matt for the opportunity.

 Ok, here is a link to the store website.

La Grandiose Experience. Sept update

Things have been going quite well over the past month since my last update. I recovered very quickly from the race on Labor Day Weekend. I had practically no soreness and after taking a couple of days to rest I was soon up to normal speed and distance putting in 33 miles the week afterwards.  followed that up with 59 miles last week and I should end up with 54 this week.

  These weeks have included some quality workouts as well as some good long runs with some pace work, some hill repeats and some tempo intervals. I've also been able to help get Amy on track to getting her mileage back up a bit and she did the hill repeats and tempo intervals with me. Right now they are geared towards just getting us ready for the faster paced stuff to come after she does her birthday run at Hinson Lake and I get this 100 miler done in 3 weeks. I hope to get in one more good mileage week and a couple of quality workouts, some more hills and tempo stuff and then I'll have to cut back a bit for the final two weeks before Oil Creek.

 As a little side note, the hill repeats we did and will continue to do for the next couple of months are not the normal kind I've done in the past but instead are run for about 300-400 meters at maximum effort. When we reach the top it's all about gasping and trying not to throw up. We run slowly back down and then recover completely before the next repeat. Very hard but very satisfying and a great strength builder.

Badgerland 24, uh, 13 hour Run

    I guess you can look at this as both a rousing success and an epic failure rolled into one race.

 I'm not going to bore you with the details of a race that went around and around in  400 meter circles or make any excuses on why I failed to finish the event. I certainly can't blame the weather. Although it wasn't ideal  for this time of year I couldn't have asked for much better. It never did get cool and was about 70F at the start but the high was never more than around 78F with moderate humidity, 50% cloud cover and during the mid-day hours a bit windy.

  The race started a 8 am with 24 runners. We were chip timed and there was an aid station at the start/finish area that was well stocked with the usual ultra fare with more real food added as the day progressed. Every three hours we would change direction so the scenery changed a little.

 To make a long story short, I was doing a great job of keeping with my planned run/ walk schedule all day. The pace for the first few hours was a bit faster than expected and I have to say that is probably the cause of my downfall. Not that I was running too fast but because I began to have delusions of grandeur and was imagining myself racking up more miles than even my fantasy goal because I was feeling so good. That's where the problem started because  I wanted to maintain the pace and  so I began to neglect my fuel and hydration schedule.

  Around 40 miles I should have taken a short break and made sure I was caught up with the fluids and fuel but I knew I had a 50 mile pr in the bag if I maintained my current pace. Pretty dumb huh? Yes I got the pr, officially 9:57:21 but due to the  length of a lap around the track that was for 50.22. If the 50 had been marked it would have been around 9:55. Well, I knew and know better than to run a 50 mile pr and then expect to run well for another 14 hours.

  I walked a mile then rested for a few minutes and tried to get some food in me. Went back out and was having a hard time getting back into a groove. I sat down again to eat a grilled cheese sandwich and walked some more and by the time I finished that 11th hour I had only covered another 2.25 miles. I was finally beginning to feel decent again over the next hour and got in another 4 miles but then the wheels began to fall  off again. I tried in vain over the next hour to get back in control but it was no use. I decided to try and get in at least 100k and a new pr for that distance but at 59 I was toast. I walked one more slow mile to make it an even 60 and called it a day.

 I'm sure I could have taken frequent breaks and walked a lot and gotten in at least another 30 miles but it would have been a meaningless number and just a week before I had advised another  runner planning to do Hinson Lake 24 to just run until it wasn't fun anymore. I decided I would take that advice and save it for a better day. I have the Oil Creek 100 miler coming up on Oct. 13th so rather than beat myself up I did the wise thing and quit. Yes, the wise thing but I hate quitting and not completing a goal.

 So now I move on. It looks like I made a smart decision because I have had practically no soreness from the race and began running again on Tuesday with a good 5 miler with Amy. I even surprised myself how well I ran and the pace for that run and the remaining workouts this week have all been at my normal pace.

 I don't have any pictures from the race but I did take some of the Milwaukee area the next day.

Badgerland 24/12/& 6 Hour Run- Preview

At the time I began running in the late 70's and first became aware of ultra running, nearly all of the events were either held on the roads or for convenience on a track. Western States 100 trail run was still in it's infancy as was all ultra trail running. I remember reading an article in 1980 about the National 50 mile Championships which were held on a track. I was always intrigued with the idea of running ultras and eventually doing a 24 hour run on the track but as you probably know if you have been a regular here that my ultra running didn't start until 2002 and with the exception of a few races like the Derby 50k and The Boogie 50 miler, nearly all of them have been on trails.

  Back in 2005 I heard about an 8 hour run in Peachtree City Georgia put on by the Darkside Running Club and decided to drive down and check it out. It was held on the local high school track and was an evening race starting at 10pm until 6am. Most people seem to think it would be very boring but I had a wonderful time and enjoyed the venue and the camaraderie. It's actually pretty cool having all the competitors within sight for the entire event. I had a pacing strategy and was able to stick with it for most of the event and hit my distance goal plus 1 mile.

  Unfortunately there are not too many 24 hour track runs these days and I never got around to running one. I have done the trail 24 hour on a 1.5 mile loop at Hinson Lake a few times which is  a wonderful event but as I was making out my calender of events for the year I decided to try and find one on a track. Luckily I was able to find one that fit my schedule. In fact this is the 30th anniversary of the event put on by the Badgerland Striders in Wisconsin. It is going to be held this Saturday Sept 1st in Germantown Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee.

  I was beginning to worry about my fitness with the struggle to recover after the Boogie and a weak showing at Grandfather Mountain in July but the past 4 to 5 weeks things have gone very well with my training and I am feeling like myself again. In addition to having same very solid weeks of training, over the past 4 weeks I have completed 4 race specific workouts which I called my "stupid runs". Stupid because most would not think it's too smart to go out on an asphalt track in the middle of an August afternoon to run around in circles for hours.  I'm hoping that they turn out to be smart runs ! I did 3 of them for two hours and one of them for 3 hours practicing my run/ walk pacing strategy as well as fueling and hydration. In addition I did a nice 5 hour time on feet workout in Umstead with Ultra Angel Jenn a couple of weeks ago so I feel confident that I'm as well prepared as I can be at this time.

  In 2006 at Hinson Lake I was able to cover 103.36 miles. I'm 6 years older now, but also a lot more experienced so I am hoping to exceed that distance. I'll be happy with anything over that but I'll go ahead and put it out for all to see that my fantasy goal is 110 miles. I don't think there will be any online updates although the event is chip timed but since the event is in the confines at the HS track I may be able to use my phone for some updates on FB when I take an occasional extended walk break .

 Here is the event website.

 Wish me luck !

Another solid week of training for GE2

 I'm feeling pretty excited with the way things are going with the training now. It seems I am 100% recovered from the setbacks in June although I'm not sure if I am back to where I was race wise before then. We'll find out about that next weekend but that's for another post. I've been very consistent with the mileage for the past four weeks with all 4 between 46 and 49 miles.

 This past week I got in some tempo intervals on Monday , a double on Tuesday, a good ultra pace 11 mile practice run  on Wednesday for the upcoming race, a 4 mile time trial effort at Umstead on Thursday and  a nice relaxed 10 miler on Saturday with Mountain Girl. I would have loved some more miles but I am doing a bit of a taper so I also had two planned rest days on Friday and Sunday and I will be taking it very easy this upcoming week.

Beginning the Grand Experiment 2

 With a 24 hour race coming up in two weeks, it is probably not the best time to begin a  training plan for a Boston Qualifier but then that's kind of what the Grand Experiment 2 is about. I'm still working on the outline of the training program  but the details aren't that important right now. In general the idea is to get used to the faster training to come and build up the ability to hold marathon pr pace for longer periods so I started off last week with a short progression run building to MP PR pace the last two miles. Great workout but it definitely felt hard near the end. Those will get much longer as the schedule progresses.

 I got in  one nice run with Amy where we discussed the plan when she begins with it in Sept. I finished up the week with a good moderate distance long run with Karla and Lisa which was a strong negative split effort. I hope to get in one more strong week of this training in preparation for the harder work to come but then next week I guess I'll have to do a bit of a taper. all part of the Grand Experiment 2 !

The Grand Experiment Part 2

 I wrote a post back in late May about it being time to re-focus my training but soon after was the dog attack and slow recovery from the Boogie 100 dnf followed by a miserable heat wave in July. I am happy to report that my training has finally gotten back on track the past couple of weeks and I feel like I am about back to normal but not quite back in the shape I was in the Spring. So, after going over some planning this weekend I officially kicked off The Grand Experiment Part 2  today with a good progression run.

 For those newer readers and for you old ones that don't really bother to remember half of what you read here, let me give you a little refresher on the original " Grand Experiment".  In 2005 running in Boston was not even on my radar , having given up on that dream a very long time ago. My fastest marathon, not counting the only one I did as a young man was a 4:12:08 in Richmond in 2004. I met and ran with Karla for the first time on New Years Day of 2005 and also met  Margherita that day too. Karla was training with my friend Jerry for her first marathon and he had asked me to run with them. I was in full ultra mode at this point with a 50k coming up the next weekend and a full slate of ultras on the calendar for the year.

  At nearly the last minute I decided I would pace Karla and Jerry in her marathon at Myrtle beach just a week after the Uwharrie 40. She was aiming for a BQ and needed 4 hours. I knew I couldn't run that but I felt I could hold that pace for at least 15 miles and then they could bring it in from there. Well I had a miracle day, pacing them perfectly through 23 miles before I had to drop back and let them go. Karla went on to get her BQ and I came in a short time later in 4:00:40.  A month later Jerry and Margo qualified at Shamrock and at a celebration dinner the 3 of them started trying to talk me into qualifying and going with them. Yeah right. I needed a 3:35 and I had just barely run a 4:01 and besides I was committed to another 10 ultras including two tough 100 milers. No way was that going to happen. But I told them I would give it a shot after Massanutten in May. After that Karla and I begin to train together and to make a long story short I was miraculously able to qualify at MB and go to Boston.  The Grand Experiment of course was could I train to knock a full 25 minutes off my marathon and still run 10 more ultras in the meantime.

 Which brings us back to today. I've got 7 months to get myself ready to attempt a 3:34:59 marathon at Tobacco Road in March which would be my PR while still running a 24 hour race next month, a tough 100 miler in Oct. a marathon and a 50k in November and a 50 mile PR attempt in Janurary.  And right now I doubt I could even run one in 4 hours ! It will take a whole lot of hard work , hard running and another miracle for it to happen but I hope that the plan I am working on will give me the desired results. Staying healthy and injury free will be the key so I have to balance the hard work with smart recovery. due to changes in the Boston qualifying standard i have to run faster by a minute than I did  in 2006. Wow, it was hard enough then but to repeat when I'm 7 years older ?

 Of course the only reason I am even trying this is to help my training partner and Angel Amy reach her goal of qualifying for Boston. Funny thing is she is not even beginning the training until September but since she is nearly 18 years younger than I am she can catch up quickly.

 With the 24 hour run coming up in less than 3 weeks now I can't get too ambitious with the training. I did a progression run this afternoon with the last mile slightly faster than goal marathon pace. For the rest of the month I just want to mostly get in easy miles in prep for a good effort in the 24 and mix in a little bit of pace work, some strides and  maybe a little fartlek to get used to moving at a little faster pace than normal. i am going to try a different approach to the training this time around focusing more on lots of miles at marathon pace and less time on the track.

 Stay tuned !

Mid Year update. Late !

Yes, I am way behind on posting my usual mid-year report on how things have gone so far. I usually have this ready by the end of June but I forgot and then I just didn't feel like writing anything. To be honest I was pretty much in a blue funk for a good while after the dog attack. Although I was eager and able to start back running about a week afterwards,  I was very uncomfortable for several weeks and  I was getting frustrated with my slow recovery. Add to that all the record heat and humidity made for some miserable running most of July. Hugging grand-daughters and running with Angels helped a lot and I finally started getting back to normal a couple of weeks ago.  I've also been very busy at work the past 3 weeks but at least was able to get in some good runs with a few glimmers of hope that when cooler weather finally comes, I'll be ready to race.

  So here goes. The year got off to a very good start with  a successful and fun race at the Weymouth Woods 100k which I ran fast enough to get a qualifying time for the Western States lottery this December. Two weeks later I had a good run at the NCFA 50k  on the All American Trail. This one was just a good way to get in a long training run for Umstead and hang out with some cool people.

 In February I had a lot of fun at The Pilot Mountain Payback Trail Marathon. The weather was perfect and I felt strong on this beautiful course.


 There were no races during March as I prepared for a hundred mile pr attempt at Umstead. The training went very well and I was confident going into the race on March 31st. Warm daytine temperatures and stifling humidity did me in and I fell off pace for the PR after getting a mid race 50 mile PR. The last 3 laps were a struggle but I got a finish in a decent time , 25:52.

 Recovery went extremely well and I was back up to normal mileage and training a week later. That gave me confidence to go for a course PR at Promise Land 50K++ at the end of April. I did have a lot of fun but it was obvious after the first couple of aid stations that I wouldn't get the pr. I just haven't been able to train as much on the trails and the steep, long mountain climbs for too long now.

  May Madness was the only event the next month which I had planned as fun way to get in some heat training for my upcoming but still secret Boogie 100. The Madness was a great day with a lot of fun with some more cool people, mostly MTC and a few NCRC.

 Which brings us to June and the Boogie and the dogs. It was great to have Amy to run with for the first 26 and the support from many friends through out the day was wonderful but everything else was such a disappointment. I was happy to get at least 100K but I paid a high price physically.

  As I said the training was a real struggle  for the rest of June and  almost all of July. Combined with the miserable humidity at Grandfather Mountain, I struggled at one of my favorite events.

 Looking ahead I have no races planned for August. The training is going much better now and I've had a few really good runs.  The remainder of the year is set now with my next event coming up on Labor Day Weekend. I'll be heading up to Germantown Wisconsin for the Badgerland 24 hour run on the HS track.

 October brings the Oil Creek 100 miler in Northwestern PA.

  In November I'll be returning to the OBX Marathon which I hope to run for fun with Karla. We've run I think 11 marathons together but it has been two years since the last one. I'll finish up the month with my 9th Derby 50k and depending on how things go between now and then I will probably go for a pr once again.  Amy and I are suppose to be beginning to focus our training after my 24 hour run on getting her a Boston Qualifier next Spring so if things are going well with that, I should be in shape to at least consider a 50k pr.

 December will just be training and recovery again this year.

 Stay tuned !

Leadville 2006

Oxygen? Who needs it? Well, I was afraid I would need to run with a canister as I prepared to leave for Leadville. The course would be difficult even at sea level but with altitude between 9,200 ft and 12,600 ft, this would likely be my toughest challenge to date. I did not have the luxury of time to go out to Colorado early to acclimate so I would just have to wait and see how it would affect me. I had been warned I would feel terrible and have headaches and nausea and that some people can have problems with HAPE ( high altitude pulmonary edema) above 10,000 ft without acclimation. There was only one way to find out. I was confident I would come home with a finisher's buckle despite the odds that usually less than 50% of starters make it to the finish line and most of those live at altitude. But those people that know me well, know that when I say I'm going to do something, it is wise not to bet against me.
I arrived in Leadville about 7:30 PM on Thursday before the race and drove straight to the condo I would staying in at Grand West Resort. I was a guest of my friend Anita Fromm, whom I had met while pacing at Umstead in 2005. We were joined by several other of Anita's friends that would be crewing and pacing for her. Another of her friends I had also met at Umstead, Vinny Swendson would be running and like me would go it alone without crew or pacer.

We were all off to bed early and then after a leisurely morning, we drove into town for packet pick-up and the pre-race briefing. We then returned to the condo to relax and prepare for the 4am Saturday start. I was anxious to go ahead and run. So far I had no problems with the altitude, but I did notice just going up the stairs that my heart rate would rise quickly. I spent most of the day sitting on the porch of the condo enjoying the gorgeous view right outside our door. The temperature ranged from 40F to the upper 50's , a welcome break for the muggy 80's and 90's I had left behind in NC.


Finally after a short night's sleep, I arose at 2am. A couple of cups of coffee and we were off to the start in downtown Leadville. I was able to see several of my friends while we waited. Joe and Hannah Lugiano and Bill and Sally Squires from the NCRC. Doug and Merrie Dawkins from the Mangum Track Club and Gary and Keith Knipling from the VHTRC as well as some other familiar faces. After a few pictures the time was at hand.

I had hoped to run as much as possible with Anita and we lined up together after a prayer and a hug. As the shotgun blasted to send us on our way, it soon was evident I would not be running with Anita today. She has been living at altitude and training every weekend on the course, so within a half-mile and the first uphill I had to let her go. I could not afford to go anaerobic this day. At this point I still didn't even know if I could run in this thin atmoshere so I was starting out very easy. As we reached the Blvd, a long straight downhill dirt road, I was taking it easy and soon joined by Doug. It was nice to be able to run a couple of the early miles with him, but when we hit the flat road leading to Turquoise Lake, I gradually begin to pull away. So far I was feeling good and not having any trouble breathing.

Soon I reached the trail along the North side of the lake. At least they say there is a lake. It was still pitch black and I was having to keep me eyes on where I was going. By now the pack of 388 starters had began to spread out. I was content to stay in line and not try to pass anyone at this point as the pace was very comfortable. As we reached the mid-point of the trail, it was amazing to see the the lights of so many runners snaking along the contours of the lake in front and behind me.

Finallly, just as it was becoming light enough to see without my flashlight, I emerged from the trees into MayQueen Campground at 13.5 miles. I was greeted by Dave Hardwick, who was out to crew for Doug. Dave is a former resident of NC and a MTC member as well as a finisher of this race. Doug's wife Merrie was also there and greeted me with a hug.Then Sally was there to cheer me in. As I enter the aid station tent, another friend from NC, Scott Brockmeier came over to fill my water bottle. Scott was there to crew and pace another Tarheel, Bobby Biles. My time in was exactly what I was hoping for. I was quickly on my way and as I headed up the road toward the trailhead to Hagerman Pass Rd, there was Hannah cheering me on. Wow, was I really 2,000 miles from home? It was great to have some support from friendly faces.

Soon I turned onto a section of the Colorado trail and my first challenge of the day. This would be the first significant climb of the race. The trail was beautiful and I passed several creeks flowing down into the lake below. Although I was breathing harder than normal I still felt fine and fell into a good rhythm on the climb. I soon reached Hagerman Pass Rd. Although it still is uphill, it was not so steep that I couldn't run a little and so I did to keep the pace up. Thje course then turned to climb up a jeep trail to the top of Sugar Loaf Pass. Looking down the side of the Mt. I could see MayQueen straight down below. As I turned to make the climb, I noticed a runner in front of me wearing a hat from Inside-Out Sports just like mine. As I caught up to him, I took a wild guess that he might be from NC too. It turned out to be Guido Ferrari from Durham NC. I had seen his name in some results before but we had never met. We talked for a while before I backed off the pace a little and he disappeared in the distance. He was a really nice person and I'm sure we will see each other in some local races.

Before long I finally reached the top of the pass and looked forward to some downhill running. It was here that I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Beth Simpson of Wisconsin. We ran and talked for a couple of miles but then as the descent turned steeper I lost contact with her. That woman can move down a hill. I can run fairly well on technical downhills but she was soon out of sight. The last portion of this segment is a scary ,steep rutted path straight down the powerline easement into the valley. After taking a photo, down I flew to the bottom. From there it is a short run on pavement into the Fish Hatchery aid station and the 23.5 mile mark . Once again all my friends were there cheering as they waited on their runners. and I was still on pace and making time on the cut-offs. I was still feeling great and again I was out quickly eating a handful of cookies as I walked away.

The next section was a bit strange at the time but in retrospect I guess it was about normal. The course from here begins on pavement for a couple of miles and it is flat or slightly downhil. I expected to be able to run well here and make up some time, but I had to walk nearly as much as I ran. Thinking back I seem to hit a low point around this distance in all my ultra's, but then rebound and start to feel good again around 30 miles. After a couple of miles I turned and crossed a pasture and then onto the dirt road leading to Halfmoon campground. I was feeling good as I passed through the Treeline crew point and was having fun playing the crowd. I was wearing the "Too DumbTo Quit" shirt that Anita had given me to wear at Massanutten last year and it was proving to be very popular with runners, crew and spectators alike. I heard dozens of comments about it the whole day. After passing Treeline, the course continues a long gradual climb to the Halfmoon aid station. I was still on my planned pace and after a quick refill and a few bites to eat I headed out.

The course continues on the dirt road a while longer before turning onto the trail leading to Twin Lakes. It was here I almost made my first mistake. I was taking in a wonderful view and decided it would make a nice picture. I stepped to the side of the road to take the shot. There were 3 runners just ahead of me and as I was returning the camera to my pouch and about to follow after them, a runner came up behind me and yelled to the other three that they were going the wrong way. I looked behind me and I was standing in the entrance to the trail , clearly marked with several ribbons. I guess I better pay a little more attention to where I'm going.

This next section was my favorite of the day. After a little more climbing, there is a long, sweet ,mostly downhill single-track all the way down into Twin Lakes. I was feeling great at this point and running strong. I was truly in my element. It is times like these that I wish my family and closest friends could see the world through my eyes and feel what I feel so they could share the experience and understand the joy it brings me. I do the next best thing and talk to them in my mind while I run and I can feel their spirits with me as I know they are back home thinking about me. This is also one of the main reasons I write these reports. I must have passed 20 runners along this path before finally dropping steeply into the aid station at 39.5 miles. Again I made great time coming in and was still right on pace.

I was eager to be on my way and face the challenge that lay ahead of me across the valley. Hope Pass, at 12,600 ft is the make or break point for a majority of runners. Many dreams have died on that climb. It is infamous for the quickly changing weather conditions that can go from sunny and fairly warm to rain, sleet , hail and lightning in minutes. I was mentally prepared for whatever the Mt might throw at me today. I would approach it just as I had hundreds of opponents in sparring matches in my former years in Martial Arts. You might kick my butt, but first you have to show me what you've got. I know what's inside me and I'm not going down easy. Bring it on Hope Pass, let's see what you got.


But first I had to run across the valley floor through meadow and bog. There are a couple of little creeks and one major stream, Lake Creek. Today it was flowing well and just over knee high on me. Very refreshing as it had gotten warm and the sun shines hot up here in the thinner air. I was running fairly well here and after probably 30 minutes entered the forest at the base of the climb. As I began the ascent, there was a creek rushing in torrents down the side of the Mt . I would liked to have been able to enjoy the view a little more but I had a hard task ahead of me. I knew that the climbs out here would be long and slow. Wishing I was at the top would not get me there so I just put my eyes on the trail in front of me and walked, never looking at my watch or looking ahead. I would get to the top when I got there.

The climb quiclky became steep and it was obvious this would not be easy. Although I was not having any ill effects such as headache or nausea from the altitude, I was working hard to suck in as much oxygen as possible. Every step upward I took was going to have less air pressure than the one before it and already my chest was heaving like a bellows. But I continued to climb steadily and passed a dozen people as I made my determined way up. After about an hour of steady, hard climbing I was beginning to reel from the body punches the mountain was hitting me with. I was about to take a knee and take a short break, but then the trail leveled out for a short distance and that was all I needed to recover enough to continue. It wasn't much longer before I broke through the treeline and into the Hopeless aid station.

I refilled my bottle and grabbed a cup of mashed potatos and begin to look for a place to sit to eat and take a short break. I found a spot on a log next to Gary Knipling. I was not really happy to see Gary. Normally he would be a couple of hours ahead of me in a race of this length and it was obvious Gary was not feeling good. He and his son Keith are trying to be the first Father and Son to complete the Grand Slam of ultrarunning and I was worried that he would not be finishing if he didn't start to feel better. He headed up the final climb to the summit before me, but I soon passed him again. What a feeling to finally reach the summit! I was on top of the world, still feeling great and had a nice long downhill ahead. I was hit with a cold blast of wind at the top so I quickly headed down the backside. I was soon making good time and running with a young man. The trail is very steep , narrow and rocky so we were both trying to keep it in control. It would be stupid to get this far feeling this good only to be careless and get injured.

Just as we dipped back below the treeline, the Mt decided to keep it's reputation for bad weather intact. It began to rain and hail. As I ran down it rained harder and the hail got larger and was starting to sting. The trail was already a bit wet, but now was qucikly becoming slick and muddy and with the steepness of the trail, even more treacherous. Most people around already had on jackets or were putting them on. I was still warm so I decided to leave mine around my waist and change shirts at Winfield. As the young guy stopped to put on his jacket I started running behind another man. In a few minutes I was smiling to myself. The guy was slipping every 3rd or 4th step and nearly fell 5 or 6 times. I found this amusing because while he was wearing trail shoes designed for these kind of conditions, I was wearing my regular Asics road shoes that I always wear and I never lost traction a single step of the way down to the bottom even though we were running the same pace.

Not long after reaching the bottom and turning onto Winfield road, I saw Anita and her first pacer coming towards me. She was looking great and after a quick hug we went off in seperate directions to finish our runs. I was now regretting my decision to leave my jacket off. I was feeling cold and was anxious to get to Winfield and get into something dry. Finally made it in and began searching for my drop bag. It took a few minutes but I finally found it. Unfortunately I had not put a shirt in the bag after all. While I was standing there dreading going back out into the cold rain with wet clothes, I began talking to Bunny Runyon, who was waiting for Gary to come in. She said Bobby was injured so Scott was going to wait and pace Gary. About that time Scott came in. I was happy to find that Scott had an extra short-sleeve shirt in his car and he ran out to get it for me. I was beginning to question my decision to turn down an offer for a crew member before the race. I am very thankful that Scott was there and could help me. I got dressed and then went over to the food tent for some noodle soup with some potatoes floating around in it. I had spent a long time here but it worked out well because the rain stopped just as I walked out. I left at 13:02, exactly the time I had planned and was confident of a finish, although I knew it would not be easy with 50 hard miles to go.

It took a mile or so before I started to get warm again, but finally started feeling good again and I was able to run most ot the way back to the trail head. I was looking for my NC friends hoping to see them soon. I knew if they weren't in sight soon they would not make the cut-off. Right after I turned off Winfield road, Bill Squires came running down the Mt. I told him I was sorry but he only had 23 minutes to go about 2.5 miles uphill. Bill took off and gave it his best effort but missed the cut-off by about 20 minutes. Before long ,there was Doug. He was happy to finally make it over Hope Pass for the first time. Soon after that I finally saw Joe. I was really hoping he could have made it this year. I know how hard he has trained and wants to do this successfully.

The trail up the backside to Hope Pass is a little shorter and not as much elavation gain as the frontside but it is steeper and before long I was huffin' and puffin' like The Little Engine That Could. Once again, head down and get down to business. Just after emerging above treeline again , I spotted a nice rock on the side of the trail. The view was magnificent so I thought a picture would be nice. It was a good excuse to take a short break. I'm glad I did because after reviewing the photos at home, I think it turned out to be the best landscape photo I have ever taken. It was near 7 pm and the lighting was perfect for the shot. I was quickly back on the trail and ready to get the climb behind me. Just before reaching the summit I saw Beth just ahead of me again. She had changed jackets, but I recognized her black running skirt. I caught her just before we went over the top so we stopped and took pictures of each other. Once again as we headed down ,she pulled away, flying down the Mt.



I didn't waste much time at Hopeless, just refilling my bottle and snapping a picture of some of the llamas that bring the supplies for this aid station. It was great to be heading back down. I had successfully made my way over Hope Pass both directions. Woohoo!!

A little over halway down I heard Rob Saraneiro come up behind me. His was a familiar face from the VHTRC but we had never been introduced. We enjoyed the rest of the trip down to the flats. He seems to be a fine young man and kept calling me sir. It's nice to see a respectful young person but it just reminds me that I look a lot older than I feel. It was about this time that I discovered mistake #2. Rob and I had both left our lights for night running at Twin Lakes, but we had both mis-calculated how early it would get dark. It shouldn't have been a problem because I was prepared. I had my back-up light in my pocket so I pulled it out and was going to help lead Rob in. Unfortunately ,I hadn't unscrewed the flashlight a little after using it in the morning and it had accidently come on at some point during the day in my back pocket and was now very dim. We made it to the creek crossing ok, but after that it became very dark. The Moon was not out and from the lack of stars I knew it was overcast. My night vision with a flashlight is not very good and the little bit of beam coming from this one was not much help. I had to walk slowly to stay on the trail, which was very frustrating because I wanted to be running this easy part of the course. Somehow Rob was able to move on ahead. Younger eyes help I guess.

Just before crossing the road to head into Twin Lakes, it began to rain again. The aid station was crammed with people but I finally was able to find a chair and change shirts while a volunteer filled my bottle and got me some noodles and coke. I wasn't too excited about heading back out into the cold rain, but once I got started it wasn't too bad. I now had my main lights and had replaced the battery in my back-up saw I was prepared to face the night. There is a signicant climb for the first few miles but I was still moving along fine. I was amazed to have come back into Twin Lakes only 4 minutes slower than I had gone into Winfield and that included having to walk a big portion of the easy part, so my confidence level was still high.

Before long I realized I had made mistake #3 and this would prove to be the big one. The wet stream crossings and the mud had caused me to accumulate small grit into my shoes and it was imbedded into my socks now and wearing like sandpaper on the forepads of my feet. I couldn't believe I was letting this happen because I had clean shoes and socks back at Twin Lakes. 5 minutes spent back there would probably have saved me an hour or possibly two at the end.

As I walked along this climb I noticed how quiet the Mts are here. The only sound other than my breathing and footsteps were the occasional sounds of flowing water from a nearby stream. No bugs, frogs or whooperwhills here. At this time back East, you could have barely have heard yourself think for all the wildlife racket going on. I eventually made it back to Halfmoon. I had some dry , clean socks here but the damage had already been done. My energy level was finally dropping from all the heavy breathing I had been doing all day. I wasn't feeling bad but my chest muscles were tiring out on me, not being used to breathing as hard as I had been doing all day. As a result I would not be doing nearly as much running as I would like. Even the mostly downhill road back to Treeline would be hard for me. To make matters worse, walking hurt my feet more than running.

Just before reaching the Fish Hatchery, I stepped to the side of the road to pee, and Gary and Scott came running by. I was happy to see Gary was still moving and I ran into the aid station just behind them. I changed socks again and then headed out to face the final major climb, that sick , steep. scary rutted powerline and onto the top of Sugar Loaf Pass. My pace had slowed quite a bit but I wasn't concerned because I still felt I could walk it in from here and get my finish. The problem was I needed to walk fast and I wasn't. And every step my feet seemed to hurt more. I think this is probably the longest climb on the course and I began to lose my patience. Instead of climbing like I had up Hope Pass, I began to strain my eyes upwards looking for the next glow stick, only to be disappointd to see it further up. It seemed like an eternity before I finally reached the summit .

Now at last I could run some more, but no, my feet hurt so bad . The jeep road here was rocky and rutted and I had to be very careful where to place my feet. I was able to run about halfway down to Hagerman Pass road but the pace was glacial and painful. The Leadville 100 was no longer fun, but a chore to be finished and I was ready for it to be over. At least when I finally reached Hagerman Pass road, I was able to run most of it because of its easier surface. I was eager to get back on the Colorado trail back into MayQueen and the last aid station. I couldn't remember how long that section would be but it soon added to the frustration I was feeling. As I neared the bottom I could hear and see the lights just below and to my right .The trail however turned uphill and to the left. But I don't want to go this way, i want to go down there! Every step away was making me more frustrated. Finally with about two hundred yards to get to the road, I tripped over a rock and landed hard on both knees.. Just a few scratches on the left . The right was not even marked but the kneecap was bruised and throbbing. Well at least I forgot me feet for a minute. After an angry moment I setttled down and from that point on I was back to my normal good natured self again. I had just about thrown all my hard effort away by losing my patience and getting injured. God has a way of getting my attention every now and then and reminding me how good I really have it.

I wasted no time in Mayqueen as bad as I wanted to sit and stay a while. I had 4:15 to get to the finish and I knew it would be a slow 13.5 miles. I tried to run on the flat campground road but it was a pathetic looking shuffle I'm sure. I had forgotten how rocky and hilly the first few miles of the Lake Trail were. It was slowing my progress quite a bit. Gary went by me shortly and I was very happy to know he had recovered enough and was going to finish. Then I heard someone else come up behind me. It was Ray Gruenewald from Seattle. I had just met Ray here in Leadville this weekend and we had been leapfrogging each other all day at the aid stations. Ray was planning to follow me into the finish and the plan was working. We didn't do much talking In fact I hadn't done much talking this whole race. It just took too much air to talk and walk at the same time. We stayed together all the way to the campground past the Tabor Boat ramp but I heard nature's call and decided to use the facilities in the campground. I had no doubt I would make it to the finish now so I was in no hurry. The time didn't matter or who finished in front of me. I just wanted to get there with as little pain as possible. I had to wait so I filled my bottle at a spigot and adjusted my jacket and vest and pouch while I waited.

Soon I was on my way again. There was one more cruel obstacle in my way. Leaving the lake, the course crossed a road and took a short cut to another road down a very steep, rocky powerline. It was killing my poor feet as I slowly inched my way down. At last I was on the flat road heading back towards town. I ran/ walked this section as well as I could and then reached the end of the Blvd, approximately 5K to go. This would turn out to be a long slow hot climb. I don't know what the temperature was but the sun was beating down and it felt a lot hotter than it probably was. And it was all uphill to town from here so I walked and I walked and I walked. And then I walked. Finally I could spot the end ot the road and as I made the turn off of Blvd , I could hear the cheers of the crowd at the finish line. I was still walking and climbing but as the road flattened out I tried to run and felt like I was going to pass out. Now wouldn't this be great. Get within a mile of the finish and end up in the medical tent with a stupid DNF from trying to run it in. That's OK . I'm not too proud to walk across the finish line. I make the turn onto 6th street and I know the finish is just over the hill and finally there it is in sight. A little downhill and then a short uphill to the line. I tried to run down the hill but the woozy feeling instantly came back so I go back to the plan to walk it in. Just as I start up the final hill, Hannah calls out from the side of the road. "Come on Joey, you can do this. Run it in. Joe's waiting to take your picture" I just mumble something about I can't so she runs out into the road and urges me to run beside her. I slowly start running with her when seemingly out of nowhere 3 or 4 other women surround me urging me to run it in. The crowd is cheering so with my escorts I somehow find the strength to run up the carpet and through the finish tape.


Everything seemed to be a blur. My head felt like a brick and I couldn't speak in complete sentences. I remember seeing Joe and the camera and out of nowhere the RD, Merilee gives me a hug and someone puts a medal around my neck. VInny is waiting there. All I can think is that I want some coke and I want to sit down. That turns out to be exactly what they want me to do. Every finisher has to immediately go to the medical tent and let them check your lungs for fluid and check your blood oxygen levels. It only takes a minute for someone to come check me out. She says I'm fine and I smile. Yes I am. I did it. I have finished The Race Across the Sky, The Leadville Trail 100!

Grandfather Mountain Marathon 2012

 Normally I would have been really excited about traveling to run this race but although it is one of my favorites and this would be my 7th, I knew this year was going to be a tough one for me. The 4 weeks leading up to it had been a bit rough on me physically. My recovery from the dog bites and the 62 miles at Boogie had been a lot slower than I had hoped for. Usually I would be feeling fine and ready to rock a strong effort within 2 weeks of a 100k but the combination of the effort along with the dog bites and bleeding, two weeks of antibiotics and some really hot weather had me feeling pretty worn down.

  I had taken a week off and I normally don't even take off that much time after 100 milers but my legs were in a lot of pain and because they couldn't suture the punctures I was still bleeding through my bandages and clothes for several days. But the rest I'm sure was good for me and after I began running again I felt like I was slowly recovering back to normal. I was finally able to run pain free after the end of two weeks and was running close to my normal mileage but by 5 miles or so into a run I was really starting to  get tired. Then last Saturday I was hoping to get in an easy 10-12 miles with Karla on the greenway but I had to bail at 8.6. Not the way I wanted to feel going into race week.


So , I tried to take it easy the remainder of the week leading up to the race with just a few easy shorter runs and headed up to Boone with a plan to just run to survive. There would be no fast time for me and I am so glad I hadn't planned anything foolish like a "Double" this year.

  I arrived at  the ASU track at 6am, and the morning thunderstorm had moved on leaving us with 100% humidity for the day. The temperature was in the mid to upper 60's and expected to move to the mid 70's so although it wasn't going to be a hot year, it was going to be a miserably muggy one. It was great to see so many friends from the NCRC and MTC and others from the Triangle area.  I found  The Trail Angel and then  lined up with Lisa and Dale Tiska for the start.

  We began at an easy pace and were enjoying the conversation as we headed out on the slight downhill through town. Shortly after turning onto Winklers Creek Road the first climb begins and we hadn't gone far past the two mile point when I let them pull ahead. I was enjoying the company but needed to stick to the plan. Shortly after that, Gene Meade and I started running together. It was his first time running here so I was giving him info on what to expect out on the course. We were both content to take it easy and walk the steeper portions of the climbs in these early miles. By three miles everyone was already dripping wet  from the oppressive humidity. We were running through a light fog nearly all morning and you could see the water droplets forming on the hairs of my arms. There would be no evaporative cooling effect this day.

  Gene and I were enjoying these early miles and we passed the 5 mile point in 1:00:00 even. With the walking I was a little surprised with the 10 minute average pace but there was some downhill mixed in there. We continued on until we came to a water stop at mile 8. It was on a downhill and  as Gene stopped to refill his bottle I continued on. I looked back as we made the turn onto Shulls Mill road and begin the next long climb to see if he was close enough for me to wait but he wasn't there so I went on ahead.

  I was moving a long well on the next climb and continuing to walk the steeper portions of the hill and generally just enjoying myself. Around the 9 mile mark I was disappointed to see Lisa about 1/4 mile ahead.  If she was having the kind of day we expected I should not be seeing her until the finish. She quickly disappeared around a curve and I didn't see her again for awhile.

  Every year that I have run this race since 2008, I have passed by the 10 mile point in the race with one of the Angels along and we have stopped at a small turnout on the road that the first view of Grandfather off in the distance. Well, today I had no Angel along for company and the view was nothing but fog and clouds. I stopped anyway for a self portrait and then a young lady came up and took one of me and then I was off on the run again. I was really shocked at my split for that 5 miles. There had been a couple of miles of downhill but mostly climbing and I had walked most of the steep parts. That made me a little optimistic because I was feeling pretty good and had not been pushing the pace at all. 

  A mile later the course reached the Blue Ridge Parkway and I was looking forward to the nice 2 mile downhill that lay ahead. IT is not too steep so you can run it pretty fast without too much effort or damage to the legs. I ha;t gone far when I spotted Lisa up ahead. She seemed to be moving well but I was gradually closing the gap. Just as we reached the bottom of the hill I came up behind her and told her I was really not expecting to see her. She said she had been having some trouble breathing earlier but was feeling better so I just stayed behind her since we are suppose to run single file on the Parkway, hoping to run with her for awhile. We went through the half in about 2:17 and the way I was feeling I began to think maybe a 4:40 was possible.

  Just past this point is where you get your second view of the mountain, much closer across a meadow but all we saw this morning was more fog. At least I knew where it was. The road begins a gentle 2 mile climb at this point and within a few hundred yards  I was having to chop my stride too much to stay behind Lisa so I had to go ahead and pass her and hope she would be able to hang on. I continued to run well all the way uphill to the end of the parkway section and the 15 mile point and was once again very happy with my pace for the past 5 miles.

  It gets a bit tougher again from this point. there is a fairly steep hill once you exit off the parkway and I walked most of it to the water stop at the top and the beginning of the gravel road section. It is relatively flat for about a mile and then we come to "17" hill. It is quite a bit like a couple of the hills on North Turkey Creek in Umstead and it is a walker and the humidity today in the woods was stifling. Of course the humidity was  still about 100% everywhere anyway but it sure seemed worse on this climb. At the end of the gravel, the course turns onto Hwy 221 which it follows for the remaining miles to MacRae Meadows and the finish. And it continues climbing fairly steeply to the 18 mile point and then it levels out a bit. I was able to start back running again but already I could tell I was slowing down a lot.

  The course continues mostly uphill from here with an occasional little bit of downhill so you can relax a little bit. I learned from doing the double in 2010 that there is a lot more uphill on the return trip than you would think but after 20 miles or so coming this far on this tough course it seems ALL uphill. To make matters worse I was starting to wheeze when I was walking. the wheels were coming completely off now and my energy was not just fading but going completely away. My hamstrings were aching and my heart was racing and slowing down really didn't feel much better. Now I just wanted to get it over with as I mentally thought,  with each passing mile, well there goes 4:45, there goes 4:50 to finally , I',m not even going to break 5 !

  I should have packed it in those last  few miles and walked it in but being the hard head I am I kept pushing as hard as I could, determined to end the suffering as soon as possible.  Finally entered MacRae meadows and as i entered the stadium for that last 1/4 mile I was fighting back tears. I'm not sure if it was because I felt so bad or I was  just so happy that I could  finally stop. The crowd was great cheering me and the kilt and I was getting lots of comments and I was blowing a few kisses to them as I slowly circled the track.

 Can't wait to get back next year ! 

 here is a link to the rest of my pictures.

Boogie 100K 2012

   I've really been struggling to find the motivation to write a report for this event and even now as
I begin  writing this I'm not sure exactly what if anything I should say about it. So anyway let's just see where it goes.

  As I said in the original post that I sent out just an hour or so before starting, the 100 miler was something I had been planning and looking forward to all  year and was really excited that the time had finally arrived. I knew Amy was planning to come and spend some time with me but I really hadn't expected her to be meeting me at the start but she is a dear friend and one of my special running Angels so I was really happy that she would be there to share in this with me. I arrived just a few minutes before 6am and she was already waiting for me. It was a beautiful morning and the forecast was for cooler than normal Boogie weather, but actually about normal for this time in June.

  We began precisely at 6 by my watch and slowly  moved ahead with smiles on our faces and excitement about what the day would bring. After about a mile we stopped to get some pictures of the the gorgeous golden sunlight breaking through the trees. Little did we know that just over the next hill our day was about to take a horrible turn for the worse.

   I'll just let you read about it here. The Dog Attack.

 As the owner led the dog away, we began to run again , stunned, angry, confused and in pain.  We didn't really know what to do at this point. Should we call the sheriff? Go to the hospital ? Well, all we could do for the moment was keep running until we finished the first 6 mile loop. The adrenaline was really flowing so after 2 very fast miles I told Amy that maybe we should slow it down a little. My left leg was not hurting too much to run but the right leg was very painful because of the location of the punctures were right in the side of the quad that absorbs most of the shock of each step. Amy was hurting too but she said it wasn't bad.

  We made it back to the cars and stopped to clean up a little and decide what to do next. I was really torn at this point. I knew the sensible thing to do would be to go ahead and go to see a doctor but I wanted to do this run so bad that I didn't intend to let anything stop me as long as I could handle the pain. I was concerned for Amy and although I was glad that she was there I should have insisted they she go ahead and get treated. I felt so bad that she had gotten up so early and driven this far just to run with me and now she was bleeding and in a bit of shock from the ordeal.

  We decided to keep going and finish the first  10 miles and see how things would go so we headed down the hill. Running down the hill was pretty bad but once I had been running for awhile it kind of went numb and was just a dull ache. We were making the best of a bad situation and tried to get back to normal  with smiles and joking around like we usually do and soon we were back at the church, only about 6 or 7 minutes behind the pace I had planned for the first lap. Not too bad considering the attack and stopping to clean up.

   I decided not to even bother with trying to clean the wounds anymore. I knew I was just going to bleed anyway so I just ate some food. grabbed another couple of gels and refilled my bottle. Amy was still wanting to continue so we started out on the 2nd loop. We were very cautious as we approached the dogs house again. Amy had her pepper spray but we really didn't want another encounter. We were very pleased to see the dog was in his pen and no sign of the other dogs. As we were running down Cartledge Creek Rd, a truck pulled up and it was Lee Watson. He asked if I was Joey because he had seen my post on FB. He wished us luck and then went on about his business but later he said he wasn't aware of the attack at that time.

    After we passed the dog pen and headed down Holly Grove Church Road , Amy got a call from Jenn checking up on us. She had seen the post from Amy about the dog attack and  was worried about us. Another one of my dear Angels. She was encouraging us to get the wounds taken care of but I told her in my best Jessie The Bod Ventura voice from Predator that "I ain't got time to bleed"

  Amy assured her that I was doing a great job of drinking and eating  since I apparently was not going to stop running. And I was. I made sure I drank a full bottle between trips to the car plus drink more at each stop and was eating and taking gels regularly. Other than the pain  from the bites I was feeling great.

 The next 10 miles were pretty uneventful. I was running well and it was still a beautiful day. As we were nearing the marathon point it was getting very warm and by now there had been no shade on the course for a couple of hours. I had plenty of sunscreen and I had prepared for hotter weather so it was not a problem but I knew I had a long day ahead of me and I had to be sure and keep my head in the game.  As we approached the church at mile 26 we saw Bobby Cordell had arrived early. He was concerned after seeing the dog bites. By now I had bleed through both layers of my shorts and they were caked in blood.

  Amy left after running the 26.2 and now I had about 6 hours ahead of me before the others in the real race would be joining me for the evening. I headed down the hill once again trying to maintain a good attitude and block out the pain as well as I could. About halfway up Bethel Church Hill I saw Bobby driving towards me. He was worried about me being out there in the sun and bleeding but I assured him I was doing fine at the moment. As I completed the first 30 miles I was pretty happy with how things were going. My feet were in great shape and feeling no ill effects from pounding the pavement. Usually by this time at the Boogie my feet are hurting but I had been making a special effort to land as lightly as possible on my feet and it seemed to be helping.

  I went to the porta pottie and wouldn't you know  it. I got my hand stuck in the door and when I pulled it out I cut my left hand and it was bleeding worse than the dog bite. I sat down to eat a turkey sandwich for lunch and Bobby saw my hand and thought it was from the dog but I told him it was just some random injury from a porta toilet of all things. I'm a little foggy on the details but around this time Frank Lilley and Paul Heckart arrived on the scene and it was great to have them around to give me support and encouragement each time I came back by the church.

  I had taken about a 15 minute break so it was time to go if I was going to stay on schedule. It took awhile to get the legs moving again and the  bites were hurting quite a bit but fortunately after I warmed up again the pain eased off again. It was getting hot now and the sun was beating down so I was taking it very easy and making sure I didn't get over heated. I seemed to be handling the heat very well and I was really glad I had stashed a cooler at the dog pen so I could refill every  3 or 4 miles during the day.  Just as I was coming back up at mile 36, Jeff Kimrey drove by and told me it was now 84F. Not too bad but with no shade it was still a bit uncomfortable and I had to be careful.

  I got the 4 mile out and back done and now just one more lap before the real race would begin. As I headed down the hill to start lap 5 I saw Doug arriving in his truck and he stopped to set out a trash can at the bottom of the hill. I showed him the bites and he said he was real sorry it happened but I told him there was nothing he could do and it would be alright. I was still feeling pretty good and confident I could keep going.

  I was still feeling ok other than the pain but I was a little slower at 40 than I had hoped so I had to push the pace just a little bit more than I wanted to from 46 to 50 so I would have at least 15 minutes to get ready for the start of the 50 mile race. I made it back in 11:45 and headed straight for my chair to rest and eat before the start. Jeff went to get my number for me and Jenn and Lisa were there and took care of making me another turkey sandwich and re-filling my bottles while I made my preparations.

 I waited until the last minute to make my way to the line and then I waited until everyone had started before I headed out after them in last place.  I was still moving at a decent pace and not feeling bad for a guy that had just run 50 miles. I was happy to see some shade had returned to the course and was looking forward to the cooler night time temperatures. I made the first 6 mile loop doing well and it was great to see the volunteers and the other runners out on the course. I was quickly out and headed down the big hill and enjoyed seeing my friends that were ahead and coming back up encouraging me along.

  As I made it back up  the hill to complete mile 60, I was a little disappointed in my lap time but I was in no hurry and figured I should be able to maintain about that same pace and amount of running each lap. I went back by my car to get some coke and finish my sandwich before heading back out again. As I made my way over to the aid station before beginning the next lap I noticed my legs were not too steady but I thought once I got back to running again they would be fine like they had been all day. Fred gave me some marshmallows and I ate them as I walked down the hill. Once they were in my belly I started to run. Or I tried to. The legs were not cooperating. Hmm, this is not good. I decided to walk until I got to the top of the first hill and then get going but halfway up the hill I was beginning to stagger a little.

  I'll be ok I was thinking. Once you get to the top you can run downhill and everything will be fine. I did and then begin walking up the next hill but my legs just begin to crumble beneath me. As I staggered up the hill I was really getting worried. I knew I had been drinking and eating plenty so something else was going on. Was I going into shock? I didn't know. All I knew was I was in trouble. I stopped and tried to decide what to do. I wanted to finish this run so badly. Maybe I could make it to the next aid station and take a break and everything would be alright. That's how it usually works when I hit a bad spell  in an ultra. I stumbled on for another 100 yards and then just stopped. I knew I would never make it to the dog pen and I was not going to collapse in the road and have someone have to send help. That was one thing I couldn't do.  I knew when I mentioned this to Doug in January that he trusted me to know how  to take care of myself and I did not want to be a liability for him or this race that I love.

  So I turned around and begin walking back to the church. And then the tears came. I was so frustrated angry and I was  just so tired of hurting and bleeding and  there was not a thing in the world I could do to change any of it right now. I was thinking about Amy and worried about her too. It took me about 30 minutes to slowly stagger back to the church where I was surrounded by many caring friends that helped me into a chair and propped my feet up for me. So many. Vickie Fogelman, Marie Lewis , Doug, Tom Herbst, Ben Dillon , Fred Dummar , Charles West and probably some others but my mind was not the clearest . Thanks to all of you.  Someone brought me some ice bags for the bites which were swollen very badly by now.  After a few minutes the pain was so intense that I had to get up but I could barely walk. Tom  helped me and asked me where I wanted to go . They wanted me to go inside and eat but I had to go lay down so we made it over to the church steps and I stretched out there.

  That felt much better and Charles kept a check on me and Ben brought me some teryaki chicken. Lisa had dropped out of the marathon so I was going to wait for her to drive me back to Wake County and to the hospital in Cary. While I was waiting a pretty young angel came over and said, Hi I'm Kelly. I'm an ER nurse at Richmond County Medical center and I would really like to take you to the hospital. I told her I needed to talk to Lisa first since she was driving me. Lisa was fine with the plan so I rode with Kelly to Rockingham and Lisa followed behind.

  Lisa of course is one of my Angels and what a great friend. I was in the hospital for 4 hours and she had to wait patiently in the waiting room bored and tired until 3am and then drive me back to Cary.

 So that's how it ended. 62 miles and a trip to the hospital for cleaning, and IV antibiotics and fluids. They of course thought I was crazy when they found out I had run 60.5 miles after the attack.

  Not exactly how I had envisioned this when I started. So now that it's done I still have a lot of mixed emotions and thoughts about it. Yes, I am glad in a way I ran the 62 but I also realize it was really dumb. And I really feel bad about how it turned out for Amy. If it wasn't for her being such a great friend she would not have been there to get bitten. I know she wanted to be there but I hated to see her get bitten. I am disappointed in myself for not being more cautious when we saw the dog and I really didn't assess the situation properly. I've had dozens of dog encounters over the years but sure mis-read this one. Well, nothing I can do to change it now so it's time to move on. The wounds are healing nicely 3.5 weeks later. Just some swelling and a little tenderness now.

 here is the link  to some pictures.

The Dog Attack

       On June 16th 2012, Amy Surrette and I began our run from Bethel Baptist Church at precisely 6am according to my watch with the intentions of enjoying a long day of running. We were proceeding easterly on Grassy Island Road in the left hand lane facing traffic. After approximately 1.5 miles around 6:15 am we heard a dog barking and observed a large hound dog on the right hand side of the road near the  edge of the woods just before the intersection of Bethany Rd. As we got closer I begin to talk to the dog in a calm friendly manner calling him a good dog and he seemed to respond in a friendly matter. He approached us with his tail wagging and quit barking so we assumed he was friendly and was just going to run along with us. I was closest to him and Amy was to my left near the shoulder of the road. The dog circled behind me and then suddenly charged up behind Amy and bit her hard on the the upper left thigh. I immediately jumped between her and the dog and began yelling at him to get away but he was standing his ground. I began to search around for a stick or rock or anything on the side of the road to use as a weapon but there was nothing there when he suddenly charged me and gave me a hard bite on the upper outside of my right thigh.

At that time as I was trying to fend him off, a slightly smaller chocolate brown mixed breed dog joined in the battle. Fortunately two other smaller dogs were keeping their distance. At first I had just been angry but now I knew that things could take a much more serious turn for the worse. The two dogs were engaging in typical pack dog tactics of having one come to the front while the other tried to attack from the side or rear so I was doing all I could to keep an eye one both of them. The brown dog came at me and as I tried to scare him away the hound once along lunged and gave me another hard bite on the upper left thigh and then retreated. My fear now was making sure I stayed on my feet or I would have probably died  or been mauled badly soon after. Sure enough the brown dog moved in again but this time I was able to land a solid right hand punch to the side of his face which seemed to take away his desire  to fight and he retreated far enough away that I was confident to give my full attention to the hound. The hound charged once more but I was ready and just as he nicked my right leg I was able to grab him around the throat with both hands. As I held on to him his attitude changed to fear as he struggled to get away and unfortunately before I could choke the devil dog to death his collar slipped off and I lost my grip and he ran away and finally the owner who I had not seen at all since I had my back turned to the house which was about 50yds away. I think this is what I find most disturbing about the whole ordeal. Why was he not running out and calling the dog during the whole time I was in battle with his two dogs?  I estimate the total time of the fight was about 2 minutes from the first bite on Amy until the owner controlled the dog. At least he did apologize for it happening and when he asked if there was anything he could do for us I just told him yes, to please make sure he restrained the dog for the remainder of the day.

      I then examined my wounds and found huge bites on both legs. There were several deep punctures that were oozing subcutaneous material so I could tell that they were indeed serious. I also had a small one tooth bite on my wrist just below my right thumb from him trying to bite me when I had him around the neck.

Once I finally decided to quit my day and go to the emergency room I was treated by scrubbing and then irrigating the wounds. The ER nurse showed me how far she was able to insert the catheter into a couple of the punctures and it was over an inch on one and a half inch on a couple of others. I was also given an IV of fluid and a IV dose of Unasyn, a high powered antibiotic. The Dr. did not apply any stitches to the wounds because the risk of the high risk of trapping infection inside so for the past two days I have been oozing blood through the dressings which I change about 3 times a day as well as through my clothes and at night through the sheets and mattress cover on my bed. I will be taking an oral antibiotic for 10 days and I have a follow up dr appt on Tuesday to make sure that it is healing properly and not getting infected.

Boogie 100 miler ???

  The first time I ran in the Boogie was back in 2005 which was the first year that Doug had added the marathon to the event. Karla and I had just began training together the month before so I thought it would be fun to run with her for training for my upcoming 100 in Vermont. The slogan for the new "half " Boogie was "A little Boogie is better than none at all" which I paraphrased in the song I wrote into "a little bit of Boogie is better than none".  Well, that got me to thinking that twice as much Boogie should be pure ecstasy !

 Right now most of you are thinking, ok, he has finally completely lost his mind and you may be right.

 I got the idea to do this on the way home from the 50 miler last year. I was joking about it but by the time I got home I had made up my mind that unless I got into Western states this year that my summer 100 would be the Double Boogie. Of course I had to wait until the lottery for WS in December but as soon as I got the rejection from them the plan was set.

  I met with Doug "Boogieman" Dawkins the race director at Weymouth Woods back in January to let him know what I was planning. He just looked at me and said OK. Is there anything I needed for him to do ? I told him no, that I had planned on being self-supported for the first 50 miles and then I would use the race aid for the second 50. We agreed that it was best to keep it quiet which I had planned to do anyway. The only ones that were let in on the plan were my trusted Angels of course.

  If things go according to plan I will begin my race at 6am Saturday morning giving myself 12 hours to complete the first 50 miles so that I can start the official 50 miler with everyone else. Ultramom Amy  is planning on coming out early Saturday to keep me company and run a little bit and crew for me until around noon. After that I'll be on my own again until later. Ultra Angel Jenn is running the 50 and Mountain Girl Lisa is in the marathon. Hopefully they can give me a little encouragement before their races start and then afterwards Lisa is going to drive me back to Raleigh so I can get some rest after completion of the first and only Boogie 100 !

 With the great weather report it looks like this won't be quite as much the ordeal I was expecting. I had planned on temps in the 90's most of the day but now it's looking like about 82F is the projected high. It is still pretty warm and a challenge on this hilly course and the pounding of the pavement will still give me a beat down I'm sure. Barring injury I plan to finish this thing and secure my spot in the Idiot's Hall of Fame.

 I look forward to seeing many of you competing  and volunteering out there this evening !

35 years and still loving it !

   Today marks the last day of my 35th year of running and tomorrow on June 7th I''ll begin with year 36. To celebrate this milestone I organized a run in cooperation with Capital RunWalk  on a course that would include the 3 mile loop that I used to run on when it all began back in 1977. The store where I have been happily employed part-time for nearly 5 years now is just about 1/2 mile away from that loop so it was very convenient to use as a staging area.

Thanks Sophia Frey for the wonderful picture

  It turned out to be a beautiful evening for it with temps in the mid-70's and moderate humidity.  I was joined on this tour down memory lane by about 20 friends including all 4 of my most frequent Angels and training partners for an easy paced run. A few others including The Labella sisters and kids came by to wish me well but didn't run.

   I mostly led the way until about the 2 mile point where we came by the house that I was living in at that time. We had a humorous moment there. There was a lady with a baby sitting in the front yard and I stopped and was telling her that I used to live in the basement of her house and that was why we were running by. Just as I started to run ahead her husband stepped out and  said he would love to hear the story sometime because he had heard people used to live in the basement. He had a heavy accent which I would guess was Eastern European and I then realized why his wife was looking at me so strangely. I don't think she understood a word I was saying and just thought some weirdo was pointing at her house and yakking about something.

 So anyway after everyone had gone by the house I took off at tempo pace to try and catch back up to the front of the group making sure to speak to everyone as I ran by. Once we returned to the store I did a little show and tell with my first real pair of running shoes which I got for Christmas in 1977, a pair of Nike waffle Trainers. I also had some bibs and race info from several of my first races in 1978 and a couple of t-shirts including the one I wore from the 1st Great Raleigh Road Race of June 1978. Among the archives were newsletters form 1978 for the North Carolina Track Club, The 1981 North Carolina Roadrunners Club and 1982 Cary Express Track Club. I even brought out the plaque and newspaper article from the one and only race I ever won, the 1987 Featherfest Turkey Trot 5k in Goldsboro.

  After the show and tell we shared a toast with some sparkling juice followed by some delicious cake and Yoohoo's ! Woohooo !

  5 years ago, before I was working at the store and before Facebook made it so easy to connect I celebrated 30 years with a run from Pullen Park which is on the loop with my very dear friends Karla, Jenn and Jerry. Here is a link to the post from that run which includes a little more of the history of how it started.  I'll not repeat it over in this post. I would like to say how thankful I am to still be able to run as well as I am now at 56 years of age after so many years. A lot of life happens in 35 years as you can imagine and many of you can relate so it really seems a miracle in so many ways that I have been fortunate enough to stay healthy over all these many years. And what is really amazing is that over half of my lifetime total of over 39,000 miles has occurred in the past 10 years. And after all that time and all those miles I am enjoying it as much and feel as passionate about running now more than ever.

 Here is another link with a bit more history.

 and here is a link to some pictures Baker took yesterday

  Thanks to Mike Zimmerman and Jon Baker for hosting this run and the cake and refreshments. And a big thanks to all that came out to support me and the many many friends and family that couldn't be there but had us in their thoughts.