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On the morning of Saturday April 18th I drove down to Hemlock Regional Park along the Occoquan River in Clifton, Virginia to "compete" (or possibly a more appropriate description is "participate") in the Bull Run 50 Miler. The Bull Run Run is a 50.4 mile trail run in the rolling hills of the Virginia countryside alongside the Occoquan River with two out and 
back loops (see the map of the course below) that included ~6300 feet of climbing throughout. "The BRR is a beautiful, tough run on the Bull Run Trail in Northern Virginia sponsored by the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club. The run's unique character includes a Civil War theme that respects the battles that occurred here many years ago. The BRR is a difficult challenge, but many have finished it. It is not easy, but it is not brutal. The BRR is not for casual runners, but if you like to run trails, come enjoy a day in Virginia's spring beauty as we honor those who fought here many years ago."
There were 314 of us lunatics that gathered together at the start line at 
6:30 a.m. that morning to compete in the idiotic sport called ultramarathon running. It was to be one of the first warm days of the year - I think this was only the third run so far of the year in shorts and a t-shirt and no tights, longsleeves, gloves, hat, etc. It actually turned out to be quite a hot day for running an ultra (the high temperature reached 80 degrees) which greatly added to the difficulty of the run. It required constant consumption of fluid, salty foods, and electrolyte tablets to make sure that I didn't get dehydrated, hyponatremic, or other nasty medical term that would cause me not to make it to the finish line. I went off at a very slow and 
maintainable pace from the get-go, at least a min/mile slower pace than my typical weekend 20 miler out on the trails at Great Falls. I 
thought that I could pick up the pace later if I felt good but it was better not to blow up early. This turned out to be a wise decision as the heat was really draining, especially given that most of us had been training in cool weather all winter. The first loop took us out the bluebell trail and it was beautifully scenic with the bluebell flowers in full 
bloom (see the pictures) and was a lot less muddy than everyone had anticipated going into the race with all the rain we got earlier in the week. I completed the first of two out and back loops that came back to Hemlock Park (the start/finish) at mile 16.6 into the run at which time the race clock said 3 hrs 19 min. This is the time that I crossed the finish line of the Marine Corps Marathon last October (i.e. I ran almost 10 miles farther in October on the road in the 
same amount of time that I completed 16.6 on this day). I knew it was going to be a long day as I set off to complete another ~34 miles. It turned out to be a great day of running. The course was well marked and the aid stations were well stocked, both with goodies and wonderful volunteers. My new trail shoes were great and the only blisters I got were from the tops of my shoes digging into my ankles 
that I just shoved some gauze into my socks and pretty much calmed the problem. My toes, knees, everything was fine all day. It took me a little longer than I hoped in the end but I wound up crossing the finish line in 11 hrs 51 min 54 sec 
and 216th place out of 266 official finishers (5 hrs 20 min back from the unbelievable maniac that won the race - and people say that I have a running problem, what about this guy?!?). I was covered in salt, hungry, and tired when I got to the finish but it was time to get ready for Georgetown's IronMed Charity Triathlon the next morning. I was hoping my legs would be feeling up for another challenge only 12 hours after finishing this ridiculousness.
On the morning of Saturday April 18th I drove down to Hemlock Regional Park along the Occoquan River in Clifton, Virginia to "compete" (or possibly a more appropriate description is "participate") in the Bull Run 50 Miler. The Bull Run Run is a 50.4 mile trail run in the rolling hills of the Virginia countryside alongside the Occoquan River with two out and 
back loops (see the map of the course below) that included ~6300 feet of climbing throughout. "The BRR is a beautiful, tough run on the Bull Run Trail in Northern Virginia sponsored by the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club. The run's unique character includes a Civil War theme that respects the battles that occurred here many years ago. The BRR is a difficult challenge, but many have finished it. It is not easy, but it is not brutal. The BRR is not for casual runners, but if you like to run trails, come enjoy a day in Virginia's spring beauty as we honor those who fought here many years ago." 
There were 314 of us lunatics that gathered together at the start line at 
6:30 a.m. that morning to compete in the idiotic sport called ultramarathon running. It was to be one of the first warm days of the year - I think this was only the third run so far of the year in shorts and a t-shirt and no tights, longsleeves, gloves, hat, etc. It actually turned out to be quite a hot day for running an ultra (the high temperature reached 80 degrees) which greatly added to the difficulty of the run. It required constant consumption of fluid, salty foods, and electrolyte tablets to make sure that I didn't get dehydrated, hyponatremic, or other nasty medical term that would cause me not to make it to the finish line. I went off at a very slow and 
maintainable pace from the get-go, at least a min/mile slower pace than my typical weekend 20 miler out on the trails at Great Falls. I 
thought that I could pick up the pace later if I felt good but it was better not to blow up early. This turned out to be a wise decision as the heat was really draining, especially given that most of us had been training in cool weather all winter. The first loop took us out the bluebell trail and it was beautifully scenic with the bluebell flowers in full 
bloom (see the pictures) and was a lot less muddy than everyone had anticipated going into the race with all the rain we got earlier in the week. I completed the first of two out and back loops that came back to Hemlock Park (the start/finish) at mile 16.6 into the run at which time the race clock said 3 hrs 19 min. This is the time that I crossed the finish line of the Marine Corps Marathon last October (i.e. I ran almost 10 miles farther in October on the road in the 
same amount of time that I completed 16.6 on this day). I knew it was going to be a long day as I set off to complete another ~34 miles. It turned out to be a great day of running. The course was well marked and the aid stations were well stocked, both with goodies and wonderful volunteers. My new trail shoes were great and the only blisters I got were from the tops of my shoes digging into my ankles 
that I just shoved some gauze into my socks and pretty much calmed the problem. My toes, knees, everything was fine all day. It took me a little longer than I hoped in the end but I wound up crossing the finish line in 11 hrs 51 min 54 sec 
and 216th place out of 266 official finishers (5 hrs 20 min back from the unbelievable maniac that won the race - and people say that I have a running problem, what about this guy?!?). I was covered in salt, hungry, and tired when I got to the finish but it was time to get ready for Georgetown's IronMed Charity Triathlon the next morning. I was hoping my legs would be feeling up for another challenge only 12 hours after finishing this ridiculousness. 
