Saturday, March 26, 2011 
 

Lots of goings on this weekend, so let’s cut right to the chase, shall we.  I actually can’t start writing about Saturday’s 5 mile run without first mentioning last night’s National Marathon Pot Luck hosted by Michael and Karen Faulkner.  A few photos of that evening can be found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/coolhandlu/sets/72157626353376318/  As in years past, we’ve got some amazingly generous volunteers who headed downtown on Friday afternoon to the D.C. Armory to pick up packets on behalf of a whole bunch of grateful Reston Runners. Those kind souls are Kevin H., Bill D., and Jack T.  Not to mention Mary K., who spent a shift downtown handing out packets.  We are all so grateful to you folks!  The Faulkner party was great – lots of pasta and pizza and yummy dessert.  While I wasn’t running the marathon or the half-marathon (and, on that ground alone, I really shouldn’t have been there eating the food!), I figure SOMEBODY had to photographically record the event for posterity sake.  I don’t know why I’m continually surprised when I come across a person, usually of the fairer sex, who clearly lacks an appreciation for “that guy” at the party with the camera.  Indeed, some women can even come off be a bit stubborn when faced with the prospect of having their picture taken and posted online.  Now, I’m not naming names, but her initials are Jess H. and she can be seen here, being “stubborn”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coolhandlu/5560130862/  Oh, trust me Jess H., there will come a day . . .I’ll get you my pretty . . . and your little dog too!  (Sorry, I just love the wicked witch of the West!)

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Because the weekend of March 5th/6th was skipped by the Stats & Chats gang (these things happen, no harm no foul - or, as they say in California, "It's all good"), I thought we'd take advantage of Jim "Lead Goat" Ashworth's most excellent summation of a recent ultra he and a few other Reston Runners ran on March 5th.  Here's his race report, verbatim:

On Saturday March 5^th a few Reston Runners ventured across the Potomac into Maryland for a nice little trail run.  It turns out they have a really nice trail, a very well organized and supported race, and a fantastic bargin in ultrarunning.   The event is the “Seneca Creek Greenway Trail Marathon and 50K”, a point to point event that starts in Damascus Regional Park and ends at Riley’s Lock on the Potomac River.  One of the many great things about this event is that the race director keeps the price way down by not doing race shirts or handing out medals or prizes.   Really, don’t we all have enough race shirts overflowing our drawers?  The total cost: $20 ($10 if you are a MCRRC member).  This includes transportation from the finish to the start (park at Riley’s lock by 6:45 am and they take you to Damascus on a bus or in a the car of a volunteer shuttle-driver), bagels while you wait to start, a well-marked course with well stocked aid stations every 5 or so miles, and even a BBQ picnic meal at the finish.  This is a trail run.  You do get to partake in some mud and a few water crossings.  The event also offers the opportunity to wait until mile 15 before deciding if you want to run the marathon, or the (more fun) 50k.  Basically you arrive at an aid station and if you want to wimp out and run the marathon J you go straight, if you want to really get your money’s worth, you run a loop around the lake before continuing on towards the finish.

A few days before the event, Doug (Hibachi) Berlin was telling me he was thinking of trying a new strategy.  Start out a little slower, more relaxed, not such an aggressive pace, then push it at the end.  Yeah right.  5 minutes before the go-command he peels off the layers, looks at me and says, “time to kill it”.  The coals got hot early, and didn’t burn out. Hibachi blazed through the 50k course in 4:52, finishing 22^nd overall.  I went a little more with the strategy he talked about…except for the “push it at the end” part.  I’m still chasing an elusive sub-5-hour 50k, but was pretty happy with the day, running fairly steady, enjoying the trail (especially the water crossings) and finishing in 5:06 (35^th overall).  Emmett Delaney ran a solid race and finished strong in 5:55.  My buddy Richard (Scary) Key who has been running well, struggled a bit today (perhaps the stress of the baby-on-the way is wearing him down a bit) but he sucked it up and pressed on and got it done in 6:10.  Next stop for the Funky Chicken Ultra Racing Team; Terrapin Mountain 50k on March 26^th.

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