In 2007 I went out conservatively for the first ten miles, then ran a hard effort to finish up with 3:32. This time I stuck with a more even effort over the entire course, finishing in 3:13 and 13th overall. (However, still only 7th in the 30-39 age group).

The first 8 miles include some stiff hills, and I admit I was quite nervous about my stamina as we got into the first few winding climbs. I’ve been running a lot of flat Charlotte greenways lately, so I had little to gauge my climbing shape. Despite having my GPS watch I ran the entire race on feel, shortening my stride and slowing the effort on the ups. As I showed in the Poconos, I’m not afraid to let gravity take over and slam the downhills, and apparently I made up significant time on other folks on the three major descents. As I like to say, “Big dude gotta roll when he can.”

Overall the weather was superb, and the three or so miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway (around mile 10) were as gorgeous as I remembered. I felt great at pace on this mile-long descent and the following flat. The final climb of the race basically starts as you exit the BRP at mile 14, with a straight road hill topped with a right-hand turn onto gravel. Mile 16 has the infamous gravel climb, which was strewn with casualties last time I ran the race, though this year there wasn’t anyone within sight ahead of me. Someone who almost caught me at the base, but apparently wasn’t ready for what was ahead and faded quickly.

The rest of the race (yes, the next 10 miles) is beautiful winding mountain road, almost completely ascending. Words of advice: The toughest aspect of this section is the cant of the road. Last time I wasted a lot of energy running the low side of the road, but this year I managed to mostly stay on the high side. This minimized lower leg stress from the angle, and reduced lots of sharp ups and downs from cutting across the road too much.

DJ, BJ, PM, post-PB&J

I was saddened that the main runner hang-out hill at the finish was covered with parked cars, so there wasn’t really anywhere to sprawl out. However, the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were back, along with plenty of cookies and snack cakes and stiff Gatorade. No complaints about the post-race fare from me! As anyone who has run the race can tell you, the finisher medal is still the same crappy one from the past. Which, honestly, I’m a fan of, since I don’t much care about finisher medals; I think it’s neat that such a tough marathon has such a dinky medal. I do wish the marathon shirt was at least as nice as the Bear’s long-sleeve shirt, but (despite my reputation for buying way too much Boston marathon gear) I also don’t run GMM for the shirt.

Friendly chill-out area

I didn’t run the killer Bear race to the peak of Grandfather Mountain on Thursday, as a number of friends did. PM did both the Bear and the marathon! At some point in the future I’m definitely going to have to try that run, as well as the Grizzly bike race on Friday. DJ even claims to have rejuvenated his marathon spirit after a few unpleasant races. Overall, great times hanging with good friends in the mountains.

I wasn’t exactly feeling up for a quick trail race, so I stayed well behind a lead pack of about 5 (which included Hochberg), and kept them in sight for about two miles. I found the paths reasonably marked, but apparently the lead pack did not, and took a wrong turn sometime around mile 4. Turns out I unknowingly led the race until about mile 7. (I thought it was strange that I was knocking down so many cobwebs!) One guy paced along with me for most of the race, and then left when another guy overtook us with a lot more enthusiasm than I had. So, I think I was third, and was happy with my pace, considering the workout my ankles and other underutilized trail muscles got. Hochberg ended up running too many extra miles to be happy, and Tino and Janie seemed uncomfortable with the terrain. I liken the terrain to Anne Springs Close Greenway, though the mowed sections were often slanted and tricky on tired ankles.

I give the volunteers a big thumbs-up; the event was very well-done to not be a formal race. Plus, it was for a very good cause. Next year I would encourage them to organize with a timing company (this course has the makings of a great XC race), but I will likely return regardless. Friendly people, great cause, good fun.

I did reasonably well with a 5:24 mile and an 18:52 5K, slight improvements over my previous week efforts. I haven’t done speed work on a track since before I got hurt last year, so I have a lot to learn about pacing on a track. My current intention is to be able to break a 5 minute mile and to run the 5K comfortably in the 17s this time next year, so I have plenty of work cut out for me.

Very nice to see plenty of Crazy Leggers show up. Congrats to Dan “Duracell” Hochberg, who placed third in the master’s championship mile with a smoking 5:16. Very nice seeing Mike, Tino, and the entire Koos family all running events, and also having Julia and the Stewarts there to cheer us on.

I haven’t run on a track since late last summer, and was happy to run a poorly-paced 5:26 mile at the 6/23 event. (Honestly, I was a little surprised to run under 5:40). Looking forward to sane pacing and getting closer to 5:20 next week.

I was spent after the mile, but I ran the two-miler for kicks. Total dead legs, but ran a negative split, with first mile at 6 flat.

Funny note: The runner I was trying to hang with for most of the two-miler was a tiny TrySports girl apparently named “Mo”, so every lap there were lots of “Go Mo” calls from their team, followed immediately by the occasional “Go Bo”. I would have been laughing if I wasn’t desperately trying to keep from passing out. And, yeah, she kicked my ass.

Great to see lots of familiar faces out, and to have met some friendly new ones. See you next week!

The course is an out-and-back burner from the small China Grove downtown. It starts on a long, gradual downhill for about half a mile, and there is a long, gradual uphill for the half mile at the turnaround. It was nice to warm-up jog the course along with some friendly folks before the sun dropped, though the flying bugs along the graveyard road were not an ideal pre-race snack (also didn’t appreciate the one that got stuck in my eye).

The course is fast, and I was hoping to stay well under 19; unfortunately, my legs didn’t have any speed in them come race time. I struggled the entire race and salvaged a 19:07. Friday night runs are awesome fun, but my body just can’t seem to get into gear for them. I shouldn’t complain much, as I was happy the time was good enough for third-place age group award.

Post-race snacks were quite good (I enjoyed a huge chunk of watermelon, a cookie, and a free energy drink, and people tell me the chocolate dip-and-sprinkle Krispy Kreme stand was a winner), and the tech tee event shirt will definitely fit nicely into my post-run shirt stack. The after dark, small town atmosphere was very friendly, and regardless of my time I’m already looking forward to the race next year.

Shout-outs to the friendly people I warmed up with: Dan was right behind me and good for a third in his age; Stan, Jinnie, and Bill from TrySports went home with hardware, as did Bobby. I also ran into Théoden, who set a nice PR and has a great account of the race on his blog. I suspect his daughter will be passing all of us in no time!